SUNDAY, JUNE 25, 2017 (PAGE 4) MOVIE-REVIEW PERSONALITY An engaging entertainer W inning the W orld Cup is next t arget From a nondescript small town EXCERPTS OF THE INTERVIEW: TUBELIGHT is a story about a man's unshakeable belief. in Nadia district of West Fifteen years is a long time. Whom do you give Based on the adage, ‘Faith can move mountains’, the film Bengal to the centre stage credit for your excellence in cricket in all these years? revolves around the life of a simpleton named Laxman Singh S peaking of scenes worth notic- of International Cricket as Jhulan: My coaches, family members and my teammates. Bisht (Salman Khan). Because of his exceedingly gullible ing, do not miss the scenes the world’s highest wicket – they guided and helped me in shaping my cricket career . nature, he gets nicknamed as ‘tubelight’, thanks to his taker among the women in Do you think winning the quadrangular series inability to grasp, understand and analyse things like oth- wherein Salman Khan under- ODI, it has been indeed a recently in South Africa will help you in the forth- ers. The story starts off with a narration by Laxman, where- coming World Cup ? in he takes the audiences through his childhood to adult- goes a selection process to join long and difficult journey for lanky 34-year-old Jhulan Jhulan : It has definitely boosted our morale. But playing hood. While the world doesn’t take him seriously, the one the army as well as the scene in World Cup is a different ball game. All of us have to be fit man who always stands by Laxman and has complete faith Goswami. Manik Banerjee in a tête-à-tête with the both physically and mentally and perform. We have to play in him is his younger brother Bharat Singh Bisht (Sohail which has Shah Rukh Khan in a well in every match and any team , which has qualified for the cricketer after Khan). One day, in the wake of the Indo-China war, the Indi- finals, can beat other here. cameo. her new feat an Army invites applications from young Indians to join the In 2002 when you first played for India, you wer In May, 2017 Jhulan army and serve the nation at the time of crisis. While Lax- one of the junior players. Now you are among the sen- Goswami became the lead- man gets rejected outright, Bharat gets chosen to be a part ior most players in the team . Do you feel extra pres- ing wicket taker (181 wick- of the Indian army to go to the border to fight against the expects Kabir Khan to continue this tradition with TUBE- sure for this ? ets) in the ODI in women Chinese invasion. Life falls apart for Laxman when he gets LIGHT as well. But, sadly he disappoints this time. Even Jhulan :Not much of pressure; but we the senior in the team cricket, surpassing Aus- to know that there is no contact with Bharat and that he may though Kabir had a very interesting premise, he fails to con- have more responsibilities – specially when going would be tralian Cathryn Fitz- have died in the war. That’s when Banney chacha (the late vert the same into a good and an engaging entertainer. While tough. patrick (180 wickets). She Om Puri) tells Laxman to have faith that his brother Bharat the film’s first half is decent, the second half starts moving Who in your family supported and supporting you achieved this feat in will return. Does Laxman Singh Bisht’s faith fight the test at an extremely slow pace with absolutely no story to boast most ? Women's Quadrangular of time, does Bharat Singh Bisht return back home safely, about. While there are lots of elements which have been tak- Jhulan : My brothers . Series in South Africa. and what happens ultimately of the Indo-China war is what en for granted in the name of cinematic liberties, there are And who is your guiding force now ? Coming from a humble social background, the journey to forms the rest of the film. Jhulan : All those who are supporting me including par- absolutely zero elements which invoke a shock value in the the top echelon of international cricket where Jhulan has been ents, brothers, coaches and team mates. dragged second half. honoured with Arjuna Award and Padmashri by the coun- You have won many awards and honour . What is Speaking of scenes try, was not a cakewalk. It was one of hard struggle, dedica- next target ? worth noticing, do not miss tion, grit, stamina and of course talent for Jhulan who cap- Jhulan: Winning the World Cup. the scenes wherein Salman tained Indian women cricket from 2008 to 2011. How much is India prepared to face the challenge Khan undergoes a selection Jhulan ,affectionately called 'Babul' at home, was born in in World Cup? process to join the army as Nadia on 25 Nov, 1982 in a middle class family. Playing crick- Jhulan: We are preparing well. We have played tourna- well as the scene which has et was not in vogue then for women and Jhulan was also ini- ments abroad and are having necessary preparatory camps. Shah Rukh Khan in a tially interested in football. But she used to watch her elder How much chances India have to win this World cameo. brother playing on a makeshift wicket at their courtyard in Cup? After having given home. One day one of the regular boys was absent and she Jhulan : It is very difficult to say. As I have earlier men- smash hit films like KICK, was asked to fill the gap. That was the beginning and her tioned the situation in World Cup is all different where per- BAJRANGI BHAIJAAN interest grew and after watching Women's World Cup Crick- forming well matters in each and every match and on a given and SULTAN, expectations et final in1997, she finally decided to go for cricket. day any team can beat the other. were sky high from Salman Jhulan’s parents also wanted her to concentrate more on You are an an all rounder though bowling is your Khan’s TUBELIGHT. studies rather than cricket. But she had made up her mind by main forte. Where you are concentrating more- bowl- Salman Khan plays his part then. As there was no cricket training facilities in Chakdah ing or batting? with utmost sincerity and in Nadia where she lived, she had to travel daily to Kolkata Jhulan: Bowling and batting both. Beside stressing on dedication but it’s the which is 65 km away from her home. Carrying on with stud- fielding as well, as fielding is also a big factor in limited over script which fails him bit- ies and cricket at the same time kept her on the toes through- cricket. terly. Even though Salman out the day. How long you want to play at international level ? Khan tries to be naïve and Jhulan at the outset wanted to be batter. But seeing her Jhulan: As long as I remain fit and enjoy playing cricket. affable, the film’s poor height, which is much more than average Indian girls, her Do you feel the new committee to look after the writing gives him in. Ditto coach Swapan advised her to go for pace bowling. Beside Indian cricket is taking necessary care for the women for the Chinese actress Zhu bowling Julan also trained herself as a batswoman which cricket in India ? is why she is known as "Kapil Dev of Women's cricket in Zhu, who makes her debut Jhulan: They are taking positive steps. India". She has 40 Test wickets in her name in 10 matches. with TUBELIGHT. While How did you feel after making the world record as Overall she has 271 international wickets in 223 games and she is endearing to watch, highest wicket taker in ODI ? has scored 1593 runs with three 50s . She is the highest wick- the weak script fails to Jhulan: I was definitely happy and at the same time relieved et taker in WODIs going past Australian Cathryn Fitzpatrick escalate the impact of her that I could achieve the goal before the World Cup. But I was record of 180 wickets. performance. The Indian more happy as India won the tournament there (quadrangu- She achieved the feat during the Women’s Quadrangular audiences will find it tough lar tournament in South Africa). Series in South Africa and has 181 wickets in 153 matches at to relate to her (half-baked) Your favourite pastime? an average of 21.76 with two 5 wickets and 4 four wickets While the promos of TUBELIGHT simply ‘lightened’ up character in the film. The little boy Matin Rey Tangu is cute Jhulan : Listening to music and reading books, specially hauls. In ODIs she has 919 runs in 153 matches. In 2011 when everyone’s excitement about the film, the film fails to live and endearing in his character, but doesn’t get to do much. books on Swami Vivekananda and Marion Jones and others India failed to win, she took 6 for 31 against New Zealand]. upto its title and eventually falls flat completely. The film’s Sohail Khan, on the other hand, is convincing in his extend- which help me to tackle odd situations. (TWF) story (Kabir Khan) is raw, extremely half-baked and total- ed cameo kind of role and plays his part with sincerity. The ly convoluted. The film’s screenplay (Kabir Khan, Parveez (late) Om Puri delivers a memorable performance, while Shaikh) is very convenient and rests on a wafer thin plot Shah Rukh Khan’s cameo is effective.