Tapan Das (Akshay Kumar), coach to the British Indian Hockey team, is frustrated because of the term ‘British’ affixed with the name of the team. Under his guidance the team wins gold but he wants the team to be free of British rule & they should stand up to the Indian national anthem when the play ends. Because of his alcoholism, he gets fired from the team and as a result he gets involved in outlawed businesses like betting.
But, with the announcement of India getting its Independence and Olympics finally happening in London, a new hope arises for Tapan Das. He goes all out to form a team that will bring the Gold for independent India. But, the news of partition divides the team and the dream that Tapan Das saw. Rest of the story is all about how Tapan manages chase something that’s impossible to achieve but not for someone as patriotic as him.
Gold has a story that can be moulded into anything, a Chak De! India level of perfection or an Azhar like disaster. Reema Kagti and Rajesh Devraj’s story somewhere covers everything but still there’s something missing. There are moments that will make you clap, whistle & melt your heart but this genre has given us so many memorable films, you kind of expect the same from Gold. It’s not at all an average film or even an above average one, it’s an above-good movie which could’ve been excellent.
The whole set-up of vintage India is the major highlight of the film as it’s every bit of beautiful. Taking the colour correction theme from ‘Peaky Blinders’ the production value looks top notch. At some places, the green screens are bit of a turn-off but a normal cine-goer will hardly notice it. With one of the best climaxes ever seen, Reema and team achieve a thrilling high. From the word go, the movie just races along-with its fast paced screenplay but lags somewhere in between. A special mention of the scene including Hitler in the start of the film; that clicks brilliantly setting up the patriotic base for the film.
Akshay Kumar explores various shades in the film, from comedy to romance to drama, and nails every single one of it. He’s high on energy throughout his performance and that goes in his favour. He delivers one of the finest performances of his lifetime & promises every ounce of entertainment. The portrayal of Raghubir Pratap Singh will go down as the best performance under the filmography of Amit Sadh. He’s flawlessly royal in the film & share some amazing scenes with the others. Mouni Roy surprises as a Bengali wife & masters the accent. She’s a delightful surprise and super natural. After Vicky Kaushal’s mind-blowing performance in Sanju, it’s Sunny Kaushal who proves he’s here to stay.
Gold isn’t Gold because of one person. As shown in the film, it’s a team work & hence it’s victorious. Akshay Kumar is unstoppable & Gold will do nothing but add yet another hit to his account. Watch it for the pure and informative entertainment.