Filmmaker Neeraj Pandey dealt with the subject of cricket successfully in MS Dhoni: The Untold Story (2016). The film was a biopic of former India cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Pandey’s next project is a documentary on India's celebrated Test cricket victory in Australia in the 2020-21 season, which will be aired on Voot Select. Titled Bandon Mein Tha Dum, the show will throw light on each of the four matches played in the series.
India not only lost the first match but it also got all out on 36, their lowest Test score ever. The show will feature how the team redeemed itself despite a long list of their experienced players being injured.
Produced by Viacom18, Indian players Ajinkya Rahane, Ravichandran Ashwin, Cheteshwar Pujara, Mohammad Siraj, Rishabh Pant and Hanuma Vihari along with coaches and journalists will feature in the show and they will look back at the series.
The trailer of Bandon Mein Tha Dum Was launched yesterday in Mumbai in the presence of the sportsmen concerned, among others.
Speaking elaborately about the show, Pandey said in a statement, “Bandon Mein Tha Dum is an epic tale that outlines ‘Miracles do happen' and it happened in the India-Australia Test series 2020/2021 which culminated in India’s stunning defeat of the world number one Test side at their hallowed home turf of Gabba where they hadn’t lost a test match for 32 years.
"The series was won by India in such a manner that it not only captured the imagination of the entire nation but also provided tremendous joy to the cricketing and wider sporting community all over the world at a time when people were still trying to come to terms with the devastation COVID-19 had brought in their lives.'
"The human stories in this cricketing fairy tale elevated the series beyond a sports-watching audience and created euphoria across all segments of Indian society. The nation was gripped and it was therefore befitting for us to bring the story to the people of India of one of the greatest comebacks in the history of sports and cricket. Nothing excited me more than retelling this story which went beyond high-quality cricket, hard work, perseverance, determination, commitment, sportsmanship and decoding the X-factor through the mind of the players which repeated the David vs Goliath story.”
After the first Test, which India lost, captain Virat Kohli had to return home as he had taken paternity leave. From that point, Rahane captained the side.
“This has been one of the most satisfying tours for us as a team,” he said. “We tackled various obstacles to emerge victorious, something which seemed difficult to many outside the team back then. When I took over as captain, my major focus was to make sure that the morale of the team remained intact. After the first defeat, we managed to come back stronger in the second Test match held in Melbourne. It has been an emotional journey for all of us. However, the second victory was followed by injuries to some of the team’s key players, which gave rise to more challenges. Bandon Mein Tha Dum beautifully encapsulates this journey.”
Earlier this year, SonyLIV, the broadcasters of the Test series, came out with a four-part documentary on the same series titled Down Underdogs: India’s Greatest Comeback.
Bandon Mein Tha Dum will be streamed on Voot Select from 16 June. Watch the trailer here.