An Australia-India cricket comedy

Film

BY PRIYANKA TATER

The Australian comedy film Save Your Legs made me experience the same sense of amusement that I feel in an Indian restaurant watching an Aussie patron struggle with fork and knife to put that dosa into the mouth. And I must unabashedly admit that I am guilty of finding a sense of wonder and joy in the process, because I get to see things from a westerner’s perspective.

Save Your Legs is a comedy shot in Melbourne, Kolkata, Varanasi and Mumbai threading together one common love between the two countries - cricket. It tells the story of Ted Brown (played by Stephen Curry), a man who’s crossed the 30-year mark, yet nurtures boyish fantasies of making it big in the cricketing arena… some day. His life revolves around his mates and the Abbotsford Anglers, a grade D Melbourne cricket club of which he is the proud president.

Damon Gameau plays Stav, the self-confessed wizard with the bat whose family and home seem to have replaced cricket in the priority list, according to Teddy. And then there is the maverick Rick, played by Brendan Cowell who is still trying to sink in the news of his girlfriend’s unexpected pregnancy. Posed by the threat of the cricket club falling apart, Ted is desperate to give it one final shot. He manages to convince a sponsor played by Indian actor Darshan Jariwala (of Gandhi My Father fame), for a 3-city cricket tour of India - described in the film as ‘cricket’s final frontier’.

Hence begins their journey of India kicking off in the city of joy, Kolkata.

Right from the welcome at the airport to the team’s road journey in the tin bus that is typical of the city, to the salons and the wig headed organizer to the goats grazing the very pitch the match is to be played on, every bit has been looked into in great detail by director Boyd Hicklin and his team and made to look as authentic as possible. As someone who has spent a significant part of her life in Kolkata, I could relate to every single nuance and felt the same sense of amusement that I mentioned a while back.

Even though the team’s India journey kick starts with a high note of excitement, India with all its strange little quirks and whims begins to take a toll on the boys. Ted faces the challenge of getting his distracted team mates to concentrate on the game of cricket. Their journeys to Varanasi (described as the place that offers an instant passport to heaven!) and to Mumbai, the city of glitz and glamour, are equally entertaining and tickle one’s funny bone every now and then. Amidst all the comic moments and stupidity, the film has its share of serious and emotional flashes, such as when to pack his bags and go back with his unfulfilled dream of winning a cricket match on Indian soil. There are heartbreaks and friendships at risk.

Hicklin has done a commendable job of making an Aussie ‘masala’ film - with toned down spices, unlike a hardcore Bollywood potboiler. That’s what helps the film maintain a sense of balance without going overboard.

The choice of locations, Indian characters, Hindi songs in the backdrop and the westerner’s interpretation of India through their own lens is an interesting cinematic journey in itself.

Those who have seen India from close quarters and who understand the country and its intricate layering, will certainly be at an advantage when watching Save Your Legs as they most certainly will be able to laugh at every joke, sing with every background score and feel every vibe and emotion.

Save Your Legs is based on the true life experience of director Boyd Hicklin and writer Brendan Cowell. Hicklin has also made a documentary about his own amateur cricket team from Melbourne that toured India in 2001. Some of the movie’s characters are based on real people from the original team –which probably explains the very authentic settings and feel of the film.

It may not be the best of cinematic works; however it is not a vain attempt by a first time feature filmmaker to capture the complexities of India. It was indeed refreshing to see an international film based in India devoid of a Dharavi, or of the stereotypical beggars on traffic lights knocking on car windows, or of starved children with protruding bellies being the selling point... It felt good to see India not being judged by a foreign filmmaker.

Actors David Lyons, Brendan Cowell, Stephen Curry, Melbourne-based actor of Indian origin Pallavi Sharda and Bollywood veteran Darshan Jariwala all seem to have done their homework, fitting in well into the skin of their respective characters.

Save Your Legs was screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) earlier this year, and at the London Film Festival; it premiered at the Mumbai Film Festival.

The film releases on 24 January 2013, just in time for Australians to enjoy the long weekend over a pack of popcorn and a game of cricket!

‘Save your legs’ is a phrase used by Australian cricketers when a batsman hits a boundary – it is the cry heard from team mates as there is no need for the batsman to run.