Tuesday, February 18th, 2025

Movie Review: Hollow claims, imaginary story far from truth, cinema lost in this ‘match fixing’

Whenever match fixing is mentioned, cricket, which is called a gentleman’s game, comes to mind, but the film ‘Match Fixing’, released on the first Friday of the New Year, is not about cricket, but a sensational story of fixing that took place in the corridors of politics. However, whether fixing is in cricket, politics or cinema, it only leads to disappointment and the same is the case with this film. This is because the intention of the film, rather than telling an honest story, seems to be fixed on setting the narrative of Hindu terrorism in the country on the previous government and for this, accusing it of collusion with Pakistan to making a brave patriotic army officer a scapegoat.

The story of ‘match fixing’

Directed by Kedar Gaikwad, who stepped into direction from cinematography, this film is based on the book ‘The Game Behind Saffron Terror’ by ex-Army Intelligence Officer Colonel Kanwar Khatana. The story traces the events starting from the Samjhauta Express bombings a year before the 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts to the horrific 26/11 Mumbai blasts. In this, there is special emphasis on how, on the orders of the high command, the then government planted the narrative of Hindu terrorism in the minds of the people in the country to do vote bank politics.

It is shown in the film that a high-level cabinet minister even colluded with the Pakistani government and falsely implicated a courageous army officer, Lieutenant Colonel Avinash Patwardhan (Vineet Kumar Singh) in the Malegaon bomb blast. Not only this, the film also claims that this patriotic officer had collected prior information about 26/11, but the then ATS chief Kishore Karmakar (Kishore Kadam), who tortured him/her, threw that file in the trash and finally he/she was martyred in the same terrorist attack.

Trailer: Match Fixing – The Nation at Stake

‘Match Fixing’ Movie Review

The amazing thing is that all these things have been said under the cover of imagination. Therefore, the names of Indian officials and leaders have been changed, but their caricature-like appearances are enough to reveal their identities. At the same time, the names of neighboring leaders like Pervez Musharraf, Benazir Bhutto and terrorists like David Headley remain the same.

However, there is a long disclaimer at the beginning of the film that this story is completely fictional, meaning all these allegations and claims are hollow, then what is the point of the film. The screenplay is divided into two parts, on one hand Avinash’s story runs, which seems interesting in bits and pieces, while the parallel political angle seems forced.

Talking about acting, Vineet Kumar Singh has been honest as Lieutenant Colonel Avinash. From carrying out disguised intelligence operations in Kashmir to the despair of a patriot enduring torture, he/she has portrayed it well on screen. Anuja Sathe as his/her wife also looks good on screen, although her role is very small. Whereas, the rest of the actors look like caricatures. There are also two songs in the film, which fit the story, but are not remembered after coming out of the theatre.

Why watch- Even if you don’t watch this film, you won’t miss anything special.

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