Kacchey Limbu
Shubham Yogi (director and writer), Piyush Puty (cinematography), Mitesh Soni (editor) |
| Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF |
Of all the films I watched at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival, I didn’t expect that a Hindi film would bring me so much joy and excitement.
Kacchey
Limbu is the story of siblings Akash (Rajat
Barmecha) and Aditi (Radhika Madan) Nath. Akash is a star in the underground
cricket league. Aditi is his biggest fan and idolizes his ability to know
exactly what he wants to do with his life. Akash, however, can only see how
much his parents prefer Aditi because she’s the obedient child who does everything
they tell her to do.
And then
one day the siblings make a deal that sees them battle it out…on the cricket
pitch. While Akash is the captain of an existing team, Aditi has to form
her own team. With the registration deadline looming, she wrangles a ragtag
team of society residents to create a team of newbies. They call themselves
Kacchey Limbu.
This film
does not go as expected and that’s why I love it. The characters in Kacchey
Limbu are so compelling and believable. And also likeable. Everyone has
their moments of being myopic and stubborn but they learn from one another and
grow from their experiences.
Radhika
Madan, Rajat Barmecha, Ayush Mehra, and the entire supporting cast are a delight
to watch. Each actor brings a distinctive personality to the screen without
being over-the-top or caricatures. Kacchey Limbu feels like Lagaan
but without the melodrama and slickness. I’m also glad the main cast spent time
learning (or re-learning) how to play cricket because the physicality of their
skills shows in the film. If the creators had had to use stunt doubles instead,
the film would have lost out on the tension and rhythm built up during the cricket
scenes.
Despite
the characters being Gen Z, I felt their storylines were very relatable to
millennials as well. There’s the egotistical dreamer, passionate about one
thing at the cost of all else; there’s the aimless jack-of-all-trades, and
there’s the talented invisible one. They are intriguing characters who I
definitely enjoyed hanging out with.
The
producers of Kacchey Limbu who attended the TIFF22 screening mentioned
that they do not have a plan for theatrical release as yet. I hope the film
does make it to cinemas because audiences need to see this film. I don’t watch
a lot of Bollywood movies, so I can’t attest to whether this film aligns with
the current crop of Indian cinema or not. What I can say is, that Bollywood and its
audiences still have a lot of maturing to do.
And that’s
what was so different about Kacchey Limbu; it felt mature. Not in the
edgy, dark way that Hollywood treats ‘mature’ filmmaking, but it is an
evolution in storytelling and character development. We are used to stories
based in Eastern countries featuring overbearing parents, but the senior Naths
are flawed yet practical. They want the best for both their children, but they
don’t know everything, so they make mistakes and fumble along the way. But the
parents, like the children, also learn and grow. And I love that the parents
have some humorous dialogue and tete-a-tetes that humanize them. There is one
brief scene between Aditi and her mother that comprises two words and knowing
looks, but it says so much. I still can’t believe that a Hindi film can have
that much nuance (most Bollywood films are so over-the-top, maybe they’ve
changed though).
Aditi
isn’t written as one of those ‘not-like-other-girls’—she’s simply finding her
way. She loves several different things but she’s a nerd when it comes to
cricket. I love that the film found a way to acknowledge that a woman, Christina
Willes, invented overarm bowling, and not her brother, who is usually given
sole credit for this massive change in the game.
I found
Akash’s arc very intriguing. He’s narcissistic and insufferable at the start,
but mellows as he’s inspired by, get this, a female colleague. What is even
happening! I can’t help but compare how differently Kacchey Limbu and I
Like Movies treat their male protagonists. Kacchey Limbu doesn’t
centre Akash’s story because we’ve seen it before. He takes a backseat to the
more interesting underdogs in the story, unlike I Like Movies.
Kabir
turned out to be such a fun character. I was convinced he was going to be a
boring love interest, but he becomes a good friend to Aditi instead and has a
whole different arc than I expected.
 |
| Image credit: Courtesy of TIFF |
The smart part of the writing is that the film doesn’t centre on the big leagues. This isn’t a film about professional cricket, the Indian Premiere League, or even the Ranji Trophy. This is gully cricket with its own rules that the viewer learns along the way. It’s simple to understand so that we can be wholly invested in the game. The stakes aren’t high, but they are personal because this story is about family and growth.
Where writer/director
Shubham Yogi, cinematographer Piyush Puty, and editor Mitesh Soni excel are the
scenes of the cricket matches. Plenty of audience members at the screening I
attended (myself included) reacted to the cricket matches in the film like we
were watching an actual live game. The tension, the shots, the editing, the
pacing, and the performances combined to bring the kind of energy and suspense
that we expect from live gameplay. It’s an incredible achievement, and I cannot
imagine the amount of hard work, detailed planning, and thought that went into
creating such compelling action sequences. The majority of the third act is
exclusively cricket matches, and keeping the energy and engagement up for that
long is remarkable.
If there’s
a negative to this film it’s that I wish that there had been at least a
couple of other girls in the cast and playing cricket. But then again, it’s
possible that within the confines of the society that is eligible for the
league, Aditi is the only one whose family allowed her to play the game. I also
wish the film had dealt with, even at a surface level, the lack of sporting
opportunities for girls in India, be it familial pressure, safety issues or
plain ol’ sexism. The story is much broader than that of course, and deals with
the issue that girls and women in India (I would argue that the issue is
applicable across the world nowadays) aren’t encouraged to dream or believe in
themselves. I still feel there was a place in the script to bring the systemic
problems with sports in the country to the fore.
I am
floored by this film. I was grinning throughout, caught up in the interactions
of the characters and mesmerized by the scenes of cricket matches. The film
features dynamic characters with layers in them, and even subverts toxic
masculinity which used to be prevalent in every Hindi film. There are unlikely friendships,
bonds, and twists, and so much cricket to enjoy in this film, I can’t stop
thinking about it. Kacchey Limbu may just be my favourite film of
TIFF22.
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