You don't have to be a cricket fan to love 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams'

There is something about Sachin Tendulkar, something so correct and so innocent you want him to win in life even when you know he is no more the 'God' of the cricket field.

The rousing farewell speech that Sachin gives at the end of this astutely emotional journey into the heart and mind of India's most celebrated Bat Man, left me dewy-eyed. This, when I know zilch about cricket and practically nothing about Sachin's exploits on the field. What I do know "and what this film is able to tell us in comprehensive strokes of revelation" is that greatness is not thrust on the great by chance.

One has to break bones and crack ribs to get there.

"Sachin: A Billion Dreams" is the story of a national hero who sails through every crisis with his simple philosophy of good existence and hard work. Sachin's life is blameless. He has never been in any controversy and he doesn't incite scandalous thoughts. This film could've easily been the opposite of what the Sanjay Dutt biography would be, given the man's colourful lifescape. Instead the director unfolds a treasury of memories and anecdotes in which the aroma of ambition is mingled with the flavour of yearnings.

Sachin Tendulkar's wife talks about how he would clam up after every defeat on the field. Does that make him a difficult man to live with? She doesn't say. Dissent is not an option that people close to Tendulkar would want to exercise. What I gathered after watching Tendulkar's tale being tossed into a cauldron of exploratory channels all leading to a glorious exposition on heroism,is that every great life has a very strong support system behind it. Read More