Review of Paan Singh Tomar (2012) by Prashant C — 26 May 2012

As an Actor representing the Indian Film Industry (the term Bollywood makes Big B angry!!!) in the world cinema diaspora through 'The Namesake', Slumdog Millionaire' and 'The Warrior' Irrfan Khan has mesmerized us all with his ability to hold an audience to rapt attention to his every move.

I know 'The Amazing Spiderman' shall be a miss if you blink role just like Amitabh in 'The Great Gatsby' but the paens expressed by the director Mark Webb reiterates the fact of what a Gem we have in our midst.

This film which has two very distinct halves wherein it plays like Chariots of fire in first half and Bandit Queen in the second half without being jarringly disparate, held together by one of the Top 3 Brave New Directors (Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee being the other members of the trio) Tigmanshu Dhulia.

Dhulia has given us Haasil, Charas and Sahib Biwi aur Gangster to whet our appetite enough for this masterclass. His usual suspects populate the screen with a special mention of Mahie Gill where she immerses herself as Irrfan's wife which is a very subdued performance curbing all her appeal which I am sure must have been a very concerted and difficult effort.

This National Steeplechase Champion in the Bengal Sappers turned Dacoit (he calls it Baaghi) saga has special appeal to me as it covers two of my favorite backdrops i.e. Army and Sports. Irrfan Khan, who has trained a lot to look like an athlete gives a very believable performance and its in the part of the dacoit wherein his acting chops come to the fore and he nails it with no attempt at subtlety.

He makes us empathize in submission to his character and in a role written for him he chews up the scenery like no other contemporary actor could and very well deserves the 'Rebel with a Cause' tag!! The locales are very authentic, bit players very capable and end result very memorable.