Friday 5 August 2016

Saluting Budhia - DAY 874

Film Review: Budhia Born To Run                           

Date: July 05 2016
Director: Soumendra Padhi
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Mayur Patole
Rating: 4 stars****

Based on a true story of Odisha’s miracle runner Budhia Awooga Singh, the little boy was sold to a bangle seller by his impoverished widow mother. Biranchi Das, a local judo coach and orphanage operator brings him to live with the other kids under his care.
One day, Biranchi notices him harassing other kids and punishes him to run around the campus till he is asked to stop. Five hours later when Biranchi returns from his work, he discovers that the boy is still running. A medical checkup reveals he is fit and normal and that’s when Biranchi Das decides to train Budhia to run marathons.
By the age of 4, Budhia accomplished 48 marathons which includes Bhubaneshwar to Puri covering a distance of 65 kms in just 7 hours and 2 minutes and is listed as the youngest marathon runner in the Limca Book of World Records in 2006.
This is a film about Budhiya’s will and skill and more important. about his submission to his coach. It is a story about the courage and the vision of his coach Biranchi Das, a story of their families and most important, a story of concerns - those raised by child welfare, the sports council, advertisers, lawyers, doctors, journalists, politicians and society at large.
When you come out of the theatre you are thinking about the 5 year old. It is fair to make him go through what he did at a tender age? Will all this not affect his health and future?  Today Budhia is 13 and he is already burnt out, is one of the 150-odd children at the Kalinga Stadium hostel, Bhubaneswar. He doesn’t run anymore and his hours of rigorous session have reduced too.
He is still a legend for the state of Odissha but even Budhia knows it will never be the same. Maybe things would have been different if his coach was alive or he had found another deserving coach in these years, but that did not happen!
Watch National Award for Best Children Film 2016 Budhiya Born to Run for the outstanding cinematography by Manoj Kumar Khatoi and sharp editing by Shivkumar Panicer. Manoj Bajpayee delivers yet another sensitive performance and little Mayur Patole is a revelation but finally the film belongs to the wit, grit and vision of writer director Soumendra Padhi.
What a film, Soumendra, take a bow!

Bhawana Somaaya/ @bhawanasomaaya

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