Language: Telugu
Sports dramas are a dime a dozen, and bad sports dramas are, sadly, just as many. So, you cannot blame a viewer if they approach any film that markets itself as one with skepticism or just plain indifference. But to call Nagesh Kukunoor's Good Luck Sakhi a sports drama, good or bad, is ungenerous and, more importantly, inaccurate. Yes, there is a sport in the middle of it all—shooting, but it is merely a device to help Sakhi (Keerthy Suresh) understand the world beyond her village and her place in it. See it as a coming-of-age tale of a woman, and you might find the daily soap level low stakes familiar and comforting. Which is to say you can watch it in the background and still not miss the few points it tries to make.
Furthermore, this lightness helps keep the melodrama away. Even if the film brings up feminist bullet points at random moments, it feels unpretentious. And this general airiness also makes the characters seem more real, despite the surface-level writing. The actors, too, shine because of the simple fact that they are the best thing about a frame at any given point. Keerthy Suresh has an interesting way of playing this cool woman. By barely emphasising, she does get her vibe right, but, as a result, her performance feels withdrawn and absentminded. Aadhi, on the other hand, is a delight. The scene between him and Rahul's Suri, where he drunkenly proclaims himself to be the bigger villain works only because it's him doing it in all earnestness. Rahul's creep is adequately creepy, but Divya Sripada deserves so much more than the side hustles that are coming her way.
Nagesh, like Sekhar Kammula, is a storyteller first and a filmmaker next. This is why, even if the template is familiar, the film isn't without small innovations. The parable often used in superhero films of good vs. evil is used here as well. Sakhi and Suri (Rahul Ramakrishna) both turn out to be good at shooting. While Sakhi holds the gun with pride, Suri holds it to rob people. Even if the Colonel, played rather Jagapathi Babu-like by Jagapathi babu, suggests that the marbles in Sakhi's possession are a sign of superstition, the writing indicates that they mean more to her than mere luck. They pay witness to the special connection she managed to forge with Raju aka Rama Rao (Aadhi). Instead of neglecting Raju's apprehensions as jealousy, the writing validates the organic way in which feelings evolve and devolve with the person feeling them.
While there are a few scenes where the background score makes it hard for the dialogues to come through, Devi Sri Prasad's music immensely helps the film. Sandeep Raj's dialogues get it right most of the time, except for the kid Raju speaking in alliteration. Most technical aspects of the film are basic and functional, yet effective. Chiratan Das's cinematography is pleasant to look at, although it could've been better during the scenes related to the sport. And, as always, Sreekar Prasad's editing is seamless, nothing less, nothing more.
One thing that is worth noting is despite having two men in pivotal roles, neither is allowed to play the saviour.
One teaches her as a coach should, and the other makes the ride worthwhile, but the film constantly reiterates that it's all about her. Even the climax is punctuated by Raju's suggestion: 'Show them what happens when a woman thinks just about herself.' The film puts emotional roadblocks in Sakhi's way, but only to say that they can be rendered irrelevant.
Good Luck Sakhi isn't your average sports drama. However, this doesn't mean it is better. Even if I liked the way the film brushes over the sports sections, I don't think it's intentional. The improbable plot points—like a woman turning out to be a great shooter because she was great at golilu as a child, or a colonel deciding to open an academy and inviting everyone in the village to do their best, or a small haystack falling on a guy's head and injuring him, when seen through the lens of a coming-of-age dramedy will fall into place, more or less. However, the film, as a whole, is as imaginative as aerial shots of Tank Bund to establish the city of Hyderabad.
Rating: 2/5
Good Luck Sakhi is streaming on Amazon Prime Video
Sankeertana Varma is an engineer who took a few years to realise that bringing two lovely things, movies and writing, together is as great as it sounds. Mainly writes about Telugu cinema.
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