With the Olympics just having started at Rio, it is fitting that this weekend’s Bollywood release is a movie related to sport as well; more particularly to the rare and little known athletic talent that springs from various unexpected parts of the country. Budhia Singh – Born To Run, released in theaters on 5th August 2016 and is a story about the little boy wonder who ran some 48 marathons when he was just 5. The movie recommends itself for several reasons:
Bollywood is really getting good at the biographical sport films and after the success of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Mary Kom filmmakers have had the confidence to experiment with the genre. So this one is about India's boy wonder and the world's youngest marathon runner.
The movie is about a five year old boy Budhia Singh (played by Mayur Patole) who wants a new cycle or new shoes and decides to run because that will get him his modest requirements.
The movie follows the life of a unlikely talent born in utter poverty and a series of events where a mother sells her two year old child to a travelling sales man and the later discovery of an amazing young talent.
Manoj Bajpayee plays the role of Budhia's coach. He plays Biranchi Das, a judo coach and orphanage director who discovered the little boy’s amazing athletic prowess. The hugely talented actor is known to do off beat, difficult roles and is always riveting to watch.
The little star’s coach was accused of exploiting the child for his own gain, and the coach was later murdered, in an incident unrelated to Budhia.
Budhia is no longer a sporting star and at 13 his sporting future doesn’t look promising. He is now banned from long distance running.
The movie has received great reviews within just two days of release. We are yet to see how it does in the coming week.
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