There has been an overdose of sports films about an underdog or group of underdogs achieving glory, both in Hindi and Marathi cinema. Chak De! India (2007), Mary Kom (2014), Yellow (2014, Marathi), Dangal (2016), Gold (2018) and the recent Me Pan Sachin (2019, Marathi) are but a few examples.
Director Mangesh Kanthale’s Sur Sapata appears to be another film in this genre, going by its recently released trailer.
The story takes place in a small village in Maharashtra where a group of kids (Hansraj Jagtap, Chinmay Sant, Yesh Kulkarni and others) make life hell for their teachers and the authorities in school with their mischief.
But they excel at the traditional sport of kabaddi. So they are chosen to take part in a competition which their school hasn’t won since it last brought home the trophy 25 years ago.
Upendra Limaye plays the role of the team's coach. Limaye had played a swimming coach in Yellow, but that character was quite different from the role he is playing here. The film also stars Pravin Tarde, Govind Namdeo, Anand Ingle and well-known filmmaker Sanjay Jadhav.
The trailer has been presented with a lot of style, but it does not excite you simply because of the repetitive nature of the subject. The kabaddi scenes have been shot impressively. The team of kids is perfect to play the underdogs.
Sur Sapata will be released on 21 March. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch this film.