1001 Great Cinema: Paan Singh Tomar

I come from Bundelkhand. So whenever I recommend one piece of cinema for people to get a sense of my land, a pulse of our people - this is it. This is an achievement for a film - to give people a sense of belonging.

Paan Singh played by Irrfan sahab doesn't need to wear charisma to be loved. The movie gives considerable screentime to Irrfan sahab (deservingly so) and he makes an acting masterclass out of it. We get to see the everyday life of a soldier and athlete in post independence India. We also get enough moments to stare at Paan Singh through Irrfan sahab’s eyes and silence and wonder about the kind of man he might have been. His wit, his pride, his physique and his sweat feels on point - a man wearing a uniform, and letting it overshadow the spirit of outlawry that he carries within.

I find the supporting cast played their parts exceptionally - the journalist (and the nerves), the coach (and the gaalis), the policemen (and the audacity), and the violent cousins (and brute force of guns) creating a world that feels believable and right there. The use of dialect is brilliant, enabling the Hindi speakers to get almost everything while keeping few raw aha moments for those who might be seeing Bundeli on big screens for the first times. Mahie Gill tries the rural/Bundeli accent but it doesn’t feel quite there. The ravines and the river also feel like members of the gang, turning, twisting and catching up with the pace and dictats of Paan Singh. 

The second half of the film takes emotional leaps. The escalation of rivalry between family and Paan Singh’s fading patience in the ‘systems’ he served felt like a gut punch. In his fight and failure to get justice, we see our little lives and how we too try our modest means to not avoid trouble. The helplessness and the powerlessness that one sees and feels as an audience makes them take the leap of cheering for the outlaw.

Favourite moments from the film

1. The reprimanding of Paan Singh by senior army officials and his repeated clarifications, ‘Beehad mein baaghi hote hain, dacait milte hain parliament mein’.
   

2. Paan Singh sending kids to get lemonchoose, but not from the nearby shop.
   

3. Paan Singh showing his achievements in the police station where the inspector throws his papers away.

4. The police inspector made to bow to the uniform to apologise. And he doing it.
   

5. Paan Singh giving scout formation training to the bandit gang.
   

6. The credit roll listing Indian athletes who lived and died in poverty and negligence.