Budhia Singh ( Born To Run ) -Movie Review

Release Date:  August 5, 2016
Cast: Manoj Bajpayee, Mayur Mahendra Patole, Tillotama Shome, Shruti Marathe
Director: Soumendra Padhi
Genre: Biography
Duration: 1 hour 50 minutes

The movie has won the National Film Award for Best Children’s Film. It truly deserves such recognition since it’s a movie made with a lot of thought and effort, and gets as close as the real thing. It shows how dreams and ambitions can run into stiff opposition from people and media, leaving one with no other option but to accept the ironical nature of human society. A society where people usually don’t raise a finger against child labor, but would throw a spanner in the works of someone trying to train a child to win an Olympic medal.

The movie follows the true story of four year old Budhia Singh (Mayur Mahendra Patole), who exhibits immense talent in running long distances. His childhood was quite painful, as his mother had sold him to a peddler for a mere Rs 800. He could have fallen even deeper into utter poverty and neglect, but luckily his talents were spotted by a local judo coach Biranchi Das (Manoj Bajpayee). After witnessing Budhia’s talents, Biranchi starts nurturing the dream that one day Budhia will become India’s top marathon runner and win an Olympic medal for the country. Biranchi starts training Budhia, but as the news spreads about the boy and his rigorous training, people start pointing fingers at Biranchi. The controversy gets entangled in politics and dreams and ambitions get trampled by a giant mass of humanity.

The movie balances the arguments both in favor and contempt of Biranchi’s attempts to push Budhia to his limits. This idea of not taking sides has made the movie more appealing to the audiences. The society probably wouldn’t have cared if Budhia slept hungry on dirty streets, but when he tries to achieve something big, people start pointing fingers at his mentor. But what about the child’s health? Wouldn’t such a rigorous training affect the boy’s health? Would Biranchi do the same to his real son? Such questions appear logical and add to the dilemma faced by society.

Manoj Bajpayee has done a splendid job of portraying his angst, frustration and struggle against a system, which according to him is unjust and unfair. Child actor Mayur Mahendra Patole has also performed well. Director Soumendra Padhi has been instrumental in capturing the finer details of a true story and presenting it to the audiences.

It’s said that truth is stranger than fiction. Go for Budhia Singh to experience a true story, one that is as exciting and adventurous, as any fiction can be.