On Sachin Tendulkar’s birthday, here’s recapping what we thought of the documentary feature, Sachin A Billion Dreams.
If cricket is a religion, then Sachin Tendulkar is the God of that religion. For those who grew up in the 90s and saw the rise of Sachin, they still remember the iconic moments from the cricketer’s life. So, when Sachin: A Billion Dreams was released in May 2017, it was a treat for all. Cricket fans lined up outside theatres to relive the historic moments and those who are not as much into cricket, much like myself, were keen to witness the euphoria that still surrounds Sachin Tendulkar.
The love for a personality and the love for a documentary made on that celebrity don’t warrant the same kind of reaction and this was the case with Sachin: A Billion Dreams. The documentary, made under the guidance of Sachin himself, was an authorised biography of the cricketer but all we saw was the story that Sachin wants the world to know. He is presented as a godly figure by director James Erskine and it feels quite narcissistic to present yourself as the saviour of the country’s dreams.
The documentary is a collection of interviews and old footage from Sachin Tendulkar’s life. The inclusion of footage from his remarkable innings, home videos from his kids’ childhood, his wedding video, all of these have been included in the documentary but what bothered me the most was the way Sachin talks of his disappointments, the bumps in his career and his little failures. It hardly makes him sound like a humble man, which I’m guessing he must be.
No one is questioning the route the director decided to tell his and Sachin’s version of the cricketer’s story but a cricket amateur like me would have probably gotten to know more about the fandom of Sachin if I had heard more about him from others rather than himself. Had they included episodes of his life that are already not in public knowledge, the film would have been a class apart. Of course, we see how his wife Anjali had to take a step back from her career so Sachin’s career would flourish and her narrating how Sachin reacted when the team lost a match but these personal anecdotes are few and far between.
Criticism aside, there is a sense of pride that lasts through the entirety of this documentary. The pride that we as Indians have always associated with the game of cricket, the joy that was collectively felt by the entire nation when India lifted the World Cup in 2011 and the feeling that makes us feel honoured that we come from the same land that has produced legends like Sachin Tendulkar.