Striker

Virginia Woolf, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literary figures of the twentieth Century, explored extensively on the non-linear narrative technique which happens to be the way of telling narrative in the Chandan Arora Directed Striker. Thus the events in the movie are not in exact chronological order and we have continuous switch in years from 1992 to 1977, 1992 to 1988, and back to 1992. The innocent intentions of the director are hampered by a confusing script that is written by him where he doesn't know what does he want to achieve with this project.

The film set in the late 70's and 80's in a Malvani, a claustrophobic ghetto in Mumbai which is also termed as the unknown place in the city by its protagonist Surya (Siddharth). The film starts off its journey on a high note but the director fails to keep the energy levels high throughout the film. So, the viewer has every right to feel disappointed from the film which had the potential and could have been a path breaking film of its time.

It's a different film genre where there are no usual song and dance sequences, a claustrophobic ghetto and a believable setting attributing to a realistic flavor of the movie. The story is also not that of rags to success of its protagonist but a complex one where the chief character Surya is either black or grey but seldom white in nature. The performances by Siddharth, Aditya Pancholi, and Anupam Kher deserve praise but the surprise package here is Ankur Vikal (Maman of Slumdog Millionaire) who plays a grinning opportunistic friend to Surya (Zaid) with amazing conviction.

Siddharth makes a comeback to Bollywood as Surya who moves to a claustrophobic Malvani in his early years and his only dreams are for a better life for himself and his family. He has a special talent in playing carom (a junior champion in it) which he has to utilize to earn a living after all his efforts to go to Dubai for a better job turn futile. Come Jaleel Bhai (Aditya Pancholi) who runs illegal gambling in the area. So he makes money with the game and betting but also lands up in trouble with his immoral ways. Eventually he has to face ire from both Jaleel Bhai and Cops. The film shifts back and forth to find solutions to Surya's problems but ends rather abruptly.

In Siddharth we witness a new actor emerging as angry young man when we see him exasperating with his brother (played by Anoop Soni) who urges him to take a decent but a low paying job. We see him indulging in raping the girl (obviously in swoon) whom he could have fallen in love, although he is married to her in the end. His sister (Vidya Malvade) also looks real with typical women traits, who can empathize with her brother but cannot help or speak up for him. His opportunistic and optimistic friend Zaid who is an associate to Jaleel Bhai also appears to be the manager of Surya and a drug-dealer lends life to the film.

The direction is also good in portraying the communal harmony of Malvani and its subsequent breaking down after communal tension but it is left un-explored by the director. Surya restores the harmony but fails to save the film which appears to be long than its actual duration because of a good script. The non-linear narrative doesn't add more to the story and the continuous appearance of carom games and deals do not please the eyes. The two romantic affairs of Surya are not well developed and are among the serious drawbacks of the film. On a whole the film deserves a watch for its nice performances, good direction and its appeal. Not a bad one but could have been great.

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