By our reporter
TORONTO: Debutant director Shubham Yogi’s feature film Kacchey Limbu premiered to a rousing welcome at the ongoing Toronto International Festival here.
Centred around gali (street) cricket in India, Kacchey Limbu is the story of India’s aspirational youth displaying courage to break into new professions against their parent’s wishes. It is about sibling rivalry and breaking gender barriers. And it is about Indian jugaadbazi or ingenuity.
All this happens amid raucous mohalla life in India.
Produced by Jyoti Deshpande, Pranjal Khandhdiya and Neha Anand, the film’s story plays out in the so-called underarm premier league matches staged in the back parks of Mumbai.
Defying their parents’s expectations, the siblings Aditi (played by Radhika Madan) and Akash (played by Rajat Barmecha) realize their childhood dreams of playing top-level cricket by joining two of the many housing cricket teams – Maharajas, Tenners, Badgers, etc. – in the local Underarm Premier League.
Played under street lights on improvised pitches in Mumbai parks, the Underarm Premier League cricket matches are a fun-filled, noisy affair. A comical commentator at these matches adds to the drama with his funny terms such as `slap’ when a batter hits a six. Even more hilarious are streams of funny comments by the spectators.
“My movie is about claiming your (Indian youth’s) space under the sun. In my film, they find the courage to have their say,” said director Shubham Yogi at the premiere of the movie.
He said he chose the medium of sport “because (underarm) cricket is the way of life in Mumbai.”
Radhika Madan, who was the first choice for the lead role, said, “I found the script relatable because lots of girls don’t have the luxury to dream. But by the end of the movie, they have the confidence to have dreams and realise them.”
The actress said she and the director went to an underarm cricket tournament to pick up their playing style.
Rajat Barmecha said he was all set for a backpacking trip when he got the message that he had been picked for the role of Akash in the movie.
About the release of the film, the director said he and his cast were just soaking up the moment in Toronto and would think about the release later.
READ NEXT: Baahubali director S.S. Rajamouli reveals how he cracked the code for blockbusters
