Some films are meant to run that extra mile to go beyond being a mere cinematic experience. As we see names of real-life athletes, who died unsung, flash across the screen at the end of Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Paan Singh Tomar we realize what we’ve just witnessed in the past 190 minutes of taut playing-time is not just film. It’s a treatise on what destiny has in store for people who do not conform to socially-acceptable definitions of success.
Indeed Irrfan Khan as Paan Singh Tomar embodies that criminal neglect of all athletes in our country barring cricketers who, as we all know by now, are grossly overrated sportspersons. Tomar was a steeplechase runner. Not that it made any difference to his destiny. In the army for the long innings Tomar, we are told, took voluntary retirement to look after his family and land in his native village.
