Saina: career defining act by Parineeti in inspirational tale about a middle class girl's rise from humble roots to becoming India's first woman badminton champion

By Rajesh Ahuja

Behind every successful sports person, be it the master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, the swashbuckling wicketkeeper batsman Mahendea Singh Dhoni, wrestler Geeta Phogat or india's badminton Champion Saina Nehwal, is an ambitious parent or an encouraging mentor who have provided motivation and the encouragement to a fledgling kid to follow his or her dreams and push themselves hard in pursuit of their goal to make a name for themselves in the sporting discipline of their choice.

In a country like India, where most boys and girls are predestined to pursue lucrative , profitable and time tested professions like Management, Engineering, Medical Science or Chartered Accountancy, tales of people who have made a mark in a profession or discipline of their choice serve as a inspiration for youngsters.

Viewed in this sense , Amole Gupte's Saina, which seeks to tell the story of rise of a middle class girl from Haryana from her humble roots to becoming a world badminton champion, comes with a lot of expectations. The film takes viewers through the highs and lows in the life of Saina Nehwal on her journey to becoming india's woman badminton champion. Also, since the highs and lows in the life of sports champions invariably impact the people close to them, including their parents and coaches, the film also seeks to take a close look at the contributions made by these people in Saina's journey to the top.

Saina is an inspirational story about rise of a middle class girl to becoming india's first woman badminton champion 

Daughter of Usha and Harvir Singh Nehwal, a Haryanvi couple, Saina Nehwal has a dream from her childhood to make a mark for the country in the field of Badminton . Turning dreams into reality, however, requires a spirit of resilience and perseverance, something that Saina has inherited from her mother Usha Nehwal (Meghna Malik) who is seen constantly pushing her to put in her best.

Besides highlighting the impregnable spirit of Saina both as a child(Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye ) and as a youngster(Parineeti Chopra) in helping her achieve her goals, the role of constant encouragement from her parents and support from her coach Rajan(Manav Kaul) in helping her attain the pinnacle of glory is effectively put across in the film by the director Amole Gupte. Scenes of mother Usha, a district level Badminton player, pushing her daughter hard in pursuit of her dream are truly inspirational.

The latter half of the film has some drama as the strict training regimen of Saina's hard task master coach Rajan draws her away from him. Also , one is left spell bound as one watches Saina's comeback from her injury after most sports experts have written the epitaph of her career. Her journey from being on the verge of obsolescence to regaining the top position in truly inspirational.

As is expected in any sports biopic, the scenes of Saina on the court and featuring her matches are nail biting and adrenaline pumping.

However, viewers are not given much idea about her life off the court, including her love life. Apart from Saina's interactions with parents and coach and some songs featuring her love interest Parupalli Kashyap, the film does not give much glimpse from her personal life.

Parineeti Chopra is in her elements as Saina Nehwal . For the over two hour duration of the film, she lives the life of the Badminton champion. She perfectly masters the body language and the movements of Saina Nehwal on the Badminton court. Watching her in the scenes featuring the Badminton matches, she comes across as Saina Nehwal. She seems to have worked really hard in transforming herself to Saina on the screen. It is undoubtedly a career defining performance by the actor. Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye is brilliant as the young Sania, who masters the game under the able guidance of her mother.

Another highlight of the film is Meghan Malik as Saina's mother Usha, who sows in Saina the seeds of passion for the game and the desire to be at the top. As one who pushes Saina hard to pursue success, Meghan Malik pitches in with an impressive performance.

Manav Kaul is quite effective as Saina's first coach Rajan, who is a hard taskmaster.

The rest of the cast, including Ehsan Naqvi and Shubhrajyoti Barat lend able support .

The visuals of the film are eye catching especially the scenes in Badminton court.

Music of the film does not offer much through a couple of songs are hummable.

In a nutshell, Saina is a truly inspirational story about journey of a middle class girl from her humble roots to becoming india's badminton champion with a career defining performance by Parineeti Chopra.

My rating: 3.5/5: one for the story and Screenplay, one for direction by Amole Gupte, one for career defining performances by Parineeti Chopra and brilliant acts by  Naishaa Kaur Bhatoye and Meghna Malik and 0.5 for the Cinematography.