''Soorma'' (; ) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

sports Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, th ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on the life of hockey player

Sandeep Singh Sandeep Singh (born 27 February 1986) is an Indian professional field hockey player from Haryana and an ex-captain of the Indian national hockey team. He generally features as a full back and is a penalty corner specialist for the team. He ...

. Directed by

Shaad Ali Shaad Ali is an Indian filmmaker. Early life and education Ali was born to Muzaffar Ali and Subhashini Ali (née Sahgal), an Indian politician and member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He is thus the grandson of Azad Hind Fauj co ...

and produced by

Sony Pictures Networks India Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Culver Max Entertainment manages and operates 26 television channels, ...

and C.S. Films, the film stars

Diljit Dosanjh Daljit Singh Dosanjh known professionally as Diljit Dosanjh (born 6 January 1984) is an Indian singer, actor, film producer and television personality. He works in Punjabi Music and subsequently in Punjabi cinema, Punjabi and Bollywood, Hind ...

Angad Bedi Angad Singh Bedi (born 6 February 1983) is an Indian actor and former model. He made his debut with '' Kaya Taran'' in 2004, an adaptation of a Malayalam short story by N. S. Madhavan, ''Vanmarangal Veezhumpol (When the Big Trees Fall)''. He ha ...

and

Taapsee Pannu Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards. After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ''Jh ...

in lead roles. It was released theatrically on 13 July 2018. Despite receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics, Soorma emerged as a commercial failure grossing worldwide on a budget of .

Plot

In 1994, at

Shahbad Shahabad Markanda is a sub division of Kurukshetra district within the Indian state of Haryana. It is situated on the left bank of the Markanda River, south of Ambala Cantonment and from the historical city of Kurukshetra. History The ...

Hockey Centre, a young

and his older brother, Bikram Singh are seen undergoing a punishment by their coach Kartar Singh, who is a strict disciplinarian trainer. As a result of that, Sandeep decides to quit hockey. As a grown young man, he meets Harpreet Kaur, a budding female hockey player who practices the sport at the same centre. They both develop an interest in each other. With intent of catching up with Harpreet, Sandeep joins the Hockey Centre again. He starts to become good at his game. Meanwhile, Sandeep and Harpreet develop a romantic relationship. The coach, who is Harpreet’s uncle, finds out about their relationship and physically assaults Sandeep. Bikram, who had been constantly working for selection to the Indian Hockey Team, fails to make it to India camp. Bikram finds out that his brother is exceptionally good at

drag flick Drag flicking is a scoring technique in the sport of field hockey. It was first seen in the late 1980s in Australia. It is used as an attacking technique, mainly within penalty corner involving two main components known as the scoop and flick. The ...

and helps him get to the Indian team, where he practices under the coach Harry. He goes on to become the highest scorer at Six Nation Series in Poland in 2006. After his success, the media terms him “Flicker Singh”. He also gets a job offer. However, Harpeet’s uncle still heatedly agrees to accept him as a suitable husband for his niece. In the same year, while leaving for

Hockey World Cup The Men's FIH Hockey World Cup is an international field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH). The tournament was started in 1971. It is held every four years, bridging the four years between the Summer O ...

, on a train, he is accidentally shot in his lower back and is paralyzed in the lower half of his body. The news of his never being able to play hockey again starts circulating in the media. Sandeep is now confined to a wheelchair and his family, especially Bikram, takes care of his nursing needs. In 2007, supported by

Indian Hockey Federation The Indian Hockey Federation was the Indian branch of the International Hockey Federation. Background It was the apex governing body of field hockey in India. It was formed on 7 November 1925 in Gwalior. It was the first non-European team to ...

, Sandeep is moved to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, where, due to intensive therapy for a year, he recovers from his injury and starts playing again. He joins the 2008 India Hockey Camp in New Delhi. He is seen at the 2009 Commonwealth Championship in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, where Harpreet comes by to watch the game. Sandeep, who earlier used to get distracted by Harpreet’s presence, manages to score the winning goal, indicating that he is now actually playing for India and not for seeking Harpreet’s love. In the closing scene, archive footage of the actual player is seen where Sandeep Singh gets the 2010

Arjuna Award The Arjuna Award, officially known as Arjuna Awards for Outstanding Performance in Sports and Games, is the second-highest sporting honour of India, the highest being the Major Dhyan Chand Khel Ratna Award. The award is named after Arjuna, one ...

from the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Murmu ...

Cast

as Sandeep "Sunny" Singh / Flicker Singh ** Agam Singh as Young Sandeep Singh *

Tapsee Pannu Taapsee Pannu (born 1 August 1987) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi, Telugu and Tamil films. She is the recipient of three Filmfare Awards. After a brief modelling career, Pannu ventured into acting with the Telugu film ''Jh ...

as Harpreet Kaur *

as Bikramjeet Singh ** Amritpal Singh as Young Bikramjeet Singh * Amit Gaur as Ajit, Harpreet’s Brother *

Satish Kaushik Satish Chandra Kaushik (born 13 April 1956) is an Indian actor, director, producer, comedian and screenwriter. Early life Satish was born on 13 April 1956 in Mahendragarh, Haryana. He graduated from Kirori Mal College, Delhi in 1972. He is an ...

as Gurcharan Singh (Sandeep Singh's father) * Seema Kaushal as Daljeet Kaur (Sandeep Singh's mother) *

Danish Husain Danish Husain is the stage name of Murtaza Danish Husaini, an Indian actor, storyteller, poet and theatre director. He has also been credited as Dan Husain and Murtaza Danish Husain. Early life, family and education Murtaza Danish Husaini was b ...

as Coach Kartar Singh * Jasmin Bajwa as Minaxi Singh *

Kulbhushan Kharbanda Kulbhushan Kharbanda (born 21 October 1944) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi and Punjabi films. He is best known for his role as the antagonist Shakaal in '' Shaan'' (1980), Starting off with the Delhi-based theatre group 'Yatrik' in the 1 ...

as Chairman of Indian Hockey Federation *

Vijay Raaz Vijay Raaz (born 5 June 1963) is an Indian actor, film director and narrator, who predominantly appears in Hindi films. He debuted with ''Bhopal Express'' (1999) and since worked in more than 90 films. His breakthrough came when he played the ...

as Harry (Sandeep Singh's Coach) *

Jimmy Moses Jimmy Moses Janumala is an Indian actor, playback singer, stand-up comedian and mimicry artist from Mumbai. He is younger brother of comedian Johnny Lever. Jimmy has been doing comedy for more than two decades now, and has done about 4,000 shows ...

as Joseph Lobo (Sandeep Singh's Assistant Coach) * Bikramjeet Singh (Sandeep Singh's real brother) as Tanveer (Pakistani Rival of Sandeep Singh) * Frazer Gerrard as an angry, Polish hockey player * Mahabir Bhullar as Sandeep's Taaya

Production

Development

In November 2014,

Chitrangda Singh Chitrangda Singh (born 30 August) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi cinema. She made her acting debut in 2005 with ''Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' for which she won Bollywood Movie Award – Best Female Debut. Singh has starred in ...

purchased the rights to make a

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...

on the life of former India Hockey captain

. In July 2017, it was reported that

would be collaborating with

Sony Pictures Networks Culver Max Entertainment Private Limited, doing business as Sony Pictures Networks India (SPN or SPNI), is an Indian media conglomerate owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment. Culver Max Entertainment manages and operates 26 television channels, ...

to produce the film in which

would be playing the lead role. For the role of Sandeep Singh, the first preference of the producers was

Ranveer Singh Ranveer Singh Bhavnani (; born 6 July 1985) is an Indian actor who works in Hindi films. The recipient of several awards, including five Filmfare Awards, he is among the highest-paid Indian actors and has been featured in '' Forbes India''s ...

but the actor refused to do the film on being offered the role in the year 2016 citing lack of dates. Initially, for the role of Harpreet, the makers of the film had finalized

Ileana D'Cruz Ileana D'Cruz (born 1 November 1987) is an Indian-born Portuguese actress and model who predominantly appears in Telugu and Hindi language films. D'Cruz was born in Mumbai and spent most of her childhood in Goa. D'Cruz made her screen debut in ...

but the actress opted out of the project as the filming dates were clashing with another film of hers that she was doing with

Rajkumar Gupta Raj Kumar Gupta is an Indian film writer and director, known for his work in Hindi cinema. He made his directorial debut with the critically acclaimed '' Aamir'' (2008). He then went on to write and direct ''No One Killed Jessica'' (2011), base ...

. In September 2017, it was reported that

had been signed to play the romantic lead opposite Diljit Dosanjh in the film.

Filming

The

principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

of the film began in Shahabad in November 2017. The next schedule of the filming process took place in

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which al ...

in December 2017. For the final schedule of filming, which involved shooting the hockey matches, the production unit moved to

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...

where shooting continued for 10 days before coming to an end on 24 December 2017. The Hockey sequences in the film were choreographed by Sandeep Singh and his brother Bikramjit Singh. The official trailer of the film was released on 11 June 2018.

Soundtrack

The music of the movie is composed by

Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy () is an Indian musical trio consisting of Shankar Mahadevan, Ehsaan Noorani and Loy Mendonsa. They have composed music for over 50 soundtracks across five languages: Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Marathi and English. Amongst t ...

with lyrics by

Gulzar Sampooran Singh Kalra (born 18 August 1934), known professionally as Gulzar, is an Indian Urdu poet, lyricist, author, screenwriter, and film director known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is regarded as one of greatest Urdu poets of this ...

. Contestants of the Talent Hunt show ''Rising Star'', Hemant Brijwasi and Akhtar Brothers were offered a song by

Shankar Mahadevan Shankar Mahadevan (born 3 March 1967) is an Indian singer and composer who is part of the Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy trio that writes music for Indian films. Personal life and early career Shankar Mahadevan was born in Chembur, Mumbai into a Tami ...

and

for the movie. Vipin Nair of ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' gave the soundtrack 3.5/5 calling it a "classy soundtrack".

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has an approval rating of based on reviews, with an average rating of . ''Soorma'' received mixed reviews from critics.

Subhash K Jha Subhash may refer to: People * Subhash Agarwal, Indian professional player and coach of English billiards and snooker * Subhash Awchat (born 1960), Indian artist and author based in Mumbai * Subhash Bapurao Wankhede (born 1963), Indian politician a ...

of ''

Business Standard ''Business Standard'' is an Indian English-language daily edition newspaper published by Business Standard Private Limited, also available in Hindi. Founded in 1975, the newspaper covers the Indian economy, infrastructure, international busine ...

'' says, "After extolling a gangster, Bollywood salutes a true hero" and gave it 4.5 stars out of 5. Ronak Kotecha of ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'' rated the film 3.5/5 stars stating that It is a story told with its heart in the right place, and on that count it scores. Divya Pal of

News18 Network18 Media & Investments Limited, (formerly SGA Finance and Management Service and Network18 Fincap Limited) commonly referred to as the Network18 Group and sometimes as the Network18–Eenadu Group, is an Indian media conglomerate owned b ...

gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that the film is well intentioned but lacks depth. Rohit Vats of

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that the film lacks the firepower to create a strong impact even though it does have praise worthy performances given by

and

. Saibal Chatterjee of

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

criticized the film saying that Soorma is "a hockey film sans genuine impetus" and gave it a rating of 2 out of 5. Shubhra Gupta of ''

The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932. It is published in Mumbai by the Indian Express Group. In 1999, eight years after the group's founder Ramnath Goenka's death in 1991, the group was split betw ...

'' gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and praised

for his portrayal of Sandeep Singh but felt that the film falls short of becoming a sports film that would leave a lasting impact.

Taran Adarsh Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media. Career Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...

of ''

Bollywood Hungama Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000. The website provides ...

'' gave the film two and a half stars out of five and writes, "Soorma is laced with a promising plot but the weak execution hampers the impact".

Box office

''Soorma'' had opened a weak collection on Box office it collected 3.20 crores (net) on its first day in India, on its second day it jumped over 57.81% and collected over 5.05 crores and its 2 days total collection is now 8.25 crore. After 2nd day on 3rd day it increases and marked up to 5.60 crores. On the 4th day film collected 2 crores and on 5th day 1.94 crores making Soorma total 17.79 crores. On 6th day it collected 1.77 crores. End of the first week of Soorma is up to 21.21 crores and after day 7 on day 8 Soorma collected 1.65 crores and on day 9 it decreases and only collected 85 lakhs but on its 10th day it increases and marked 1.60 crores and on 11th day it collected well on

Box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicke ...

and marked up to 2.10 crores approximately. From day 12th-15th day it collected 2.45 crores.

Sequel

Chitrangada Singh Chitrangda Singh (born 30 August) is an Indian actress who works primarily in Hindi cinema. She made her acting debut in 2005 with '' Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi'' for which she won Bollywood Movie Award – Best Female Debut. Singh has starred in ...

confirmed that she will produce the sequel to the film. The cast and full crew have not been revealed yet, and the film will soon go to floors. As its predecessor, the sequel will also be based on a real-life hero.

References

External links

* * {{Shaad Ali Columbia Pictures films Indian biographical drama films Indian sports drama films Films shot in Chandigarh Films shot in Serbia Sony Pictures Networks India films Films set in Haryana Films set in Punjab, India 2018 biographical drama films 2010s sports drama films Sony Pictures films Cultural depictions of Indian men Indian films based on actual events Sports films based on actual events Cultural depictions of hockey players 2006 Men's Hockey World Cup Field hockey at the Commonwealth Games 2010 Commonwealth Games Sultan Azlan Shah Cup Men's Hockey Champions Challenge I India men's national field hockey team Films about field hockey in India