Director: Chandan Arora

Star Cast: Siddharath, Aditya Pancholi, Anupam Kher, Seema Biswas, Ankur Vikal, Nicollete Bird

‘Striker’ is another Bollywood tale of an innocent man being driven into the puddle of money-making. The movie is the story of Surya (Siddharth) who happens to be extremely talented carom player. But owing to the circumstances, Siddharth had to give up the passion and move on the conventional path to be the bread-earner for the family. The movie oscillates between the past and present and one gets to see Surya’s childhood and youth simultaneously.

 

Surya reaches Mumbai after his out of town trip and finds himself in an environment of communal riot. Surya is stopped by the police official, Faroukh (Anupam Kher). He gets trapped in the course of movie and eventually loses all the money that he had collected to go to Dubai. It is at this stage that he is re-introduced to carom but this time it is not just a game. He plays carom for gambling and stands face to face with the dreadful gangster, Jaleel (Aditya Pancholi) whom he hates since his childhood. He had always tried to keep away from Jaleel and his wickedness but ultimately finds himself standing in front of him.

 

The movie is made with the best of intentions and with a sensible theme. Dialogues are crisp and powerful. Like any other Bollywood movie, ‘Striker’ too has a love plot which never finds scope to grow fully. Noorie (Nicolette Bird), the love life of Surya gives a fresh impact to the audience. Friendship shared between Surya and Zaid (Ankur Vikal) is commendable and forms one of the main veins of the story.

 

Producer-director Chandan Arora makes a fruitful attempt in story telling technique and manages to keep the audience watching. However, at times the plot weakens and tends to confuse the audience with the introduction of sub-plots. Songs are pleasant to ear and contributes to the progress of the movie.

 

Coming to the actors, Siddharth poses a natural acting and shows his capability to shoulder a Bollywood movie on his shoulder. His work is highly appreciable and succeeds in maintaining the ‘Rang De Basanti’ magic. Nicolette Bird is pretty but finds no chance to show her acting skill. Anupam Kher and Aditya Pancholi show themselves to be experienced actors. Ankur Vikal, Anup Soni, Seema Biswas and Padmapriya suit their role perfectly.

 

Though the acting and plot of the movie is good, it fails to leave an unforgettable impact. Probably this is due to the lack of a well-written script. Again, the movie will be acceptable only to limited audience, leave alone the weak hearts. One may feel the smoky atmosphere of the movie repulsive.

 

To sum up, ‘Striker’ is a one-time watch for sure but whether it will strike or not is up to you!