Messi is a bad movie. It embarrasses you. Brings the child out that you locked away somewhere deep inside and forgot about it. Makes you confront the simple complexities of life like not managing to carry out the next door love. And then leaves you gasping for breath in the euphoria of joy at having achieved the impossible, making caped heroes out of regular 10-to-5 guys.
Messi is audacious movie. This movie dared to just tell a story and not let stars load the screen with their purple presence. The result. The characters dont act. They react to situations we face everyday. Tenants losing the roof over their head. Elder son of the family lost in the tug of war between heart and hardship. Younger son picking up the family mantle. A mother who forms the life blood that runs to each vein of the family. Its an everyday montage done by a band of everyday actors, who have almost given up hope of receiving their due honour from this industry.
Messi is a rekindled canvas. Director Arnab Ringo Banerjee finds his mojo after a long time. And he shows what he can do once he feels really inspired. He throws away the gimicky camera angles. The packed to the rafters sharp edits. The skills that kills a story with its intrinsic overkill. He tells a story back from his Kalyani days when ‘para’ (locality) meant a lot more than just a huddle of houses.
Messi is a delight. The lip smacking chemistry between Aryaan and Ronodeep lights up the screen everytime they come together. They are so fucking believable as footballers that Rahim Nabi was saying they must have played football competitively or they couldnt do this movie. Aryaan has a dazzling future, while i can only hope and pray Rono revives to seize control of his destiny. Rana Mitra is superlative, while Chaiti leaves her mark as a mother. Sumit is surely the clown prince of Tollywood with versatility a la Jim Carey.
Our cable guy is nicknamed Baichung. Not because of his resemblance to the former Indian skipper turned politician. But because of his prowess of scoring goals in the five a side matches that are played regularly on the dirt track behind our house. He could well be Messi another time another day with the same predicaments.
I must say Messi is a bad movie that corrupts the vain hypocrit that dwells inside you in its unchallenged smugness and brings you so close to the ground that you can smell the earthiness that abounds the movie.
I watched and cried and laughed like a child. You should too.
