Striker Movie Review
Film: Striker
Cast: Siddharth, Ankur Vikal, Vidya Malwade, Aditya Pancholi
Genre: Drama
Direction: Chandan Arora
Duration: 2 hours
Story: Surya grows up as a skilled carrom player in the ghetto of Malvani, a Mumbai suburb which has remained free from communal tension, until December 1992. Chasing his dreams to lead a life free from crime, Surya watches his idyllic locality fall apart to the greed of local goons who are in league with corrupt cops. He fights back.
Times of India Rating 3/5
Okay, so this film does go back in time and picks up a story from Mumbai’s dark night that followed the demolition of the Babri mosque on December 6, 1992. Under ordinary circumstances, it might have seemed dated. But today, with the city warding off another divisive and equally dark night that’s dangerously looming on the horizon, this time due to the scourge of regionalism, Chandan Arora’s Striker, acquires a whole new meaning.But the real hero
of the film is Malvani, the ghetto where the two grow up and dream of escape. The director captures the area with artistic detail and an edgy urgency that brings to life another compelling cameo of Mumbai, India’s Maximum City…Read full review
NDTV Rating 2.5/5
Striker is the kind of film that fills you with regret. There is skilful direction here, some nicely etched moments and commendable performances and yet the film never gathers enough momentum to make an impact. Striker never becomes the film it could have been.
Striker goes back and forth between 1992 and the 1980s. I’m not sure that this movement adds anything to the film. But worse, the plot seems to randomly lurch from one point to another without adding up to a larger whole.
Events don’t unfold organically, they seem patched on. So Surya has two romantic sub-plots that are largely feeble.His voice-over, which links up the various years is so insistent that it becomes annoying. And beyond a point, the various bhais and carrom games and deals blur into tedium. Even at two hours, Striker feels too long.Eventually then, Striker just isn’t compelling enough for a trip to the theater. But there are many good things here. So I recommend that you wait for the DVD…Read full review
