Soorma (film)

Soorma (transl. Warrior; Hindi pronunciation: [suːɾma]) is a 2018 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports drama film based on the life of hockey player Sandeep Singh. Directed by Shaad Ali and produced by Sony Pictures Networks India and C.S. Films,[3] the film stars Diljit Dosanjh, Angad Bedi and Taapsee Pannu in lead roles.[4] It was released theatrically on 13 July 2018.[5]

Soorma
Theatrical release poster
Directed byShaad Ali
Written bySuyash Trivedi
Shaad Ali
Siva Ananth
Produced bySony Pictures Networks Productions
Deepak Singh
Chitrangda Singh
StarringDiljit Dosanjh
Taapsee Pannu
Angad Bedi
CinematographyJitan Harmeet Singh
Edited byManish More
Music byShankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Production
companies
Distributed bySony Pictures Releasing
Release date
  • 13 July 2018 (2018-07-13)
(Worldwide)
Running time
131 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹31 crore[1]
Box office₹48 crore[2]

Despite receiving mixed to positive reviews from critics, Soorma emerged as a commercial failure grossing ₹470 million (US$5.9 million) worldwide on a budget of ₹310 million (US$3.9 million).

Plot

In 1994, at Shahbad Hockey Centre, a young Sandeep Singh 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 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, 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, Sandeep is moved to the Netherlands, 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, 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 from the President of India.

Cast
  • Diljit Dosanjh as Sandeep "Sunny" Singh / Flicker Singh
    • Agam Singh as Young Sandeep Singh
  • Tapsee Pannu as Harpreet Kaur
  • Angad Bedi as Bikramjeet Singh
    • Amritpal Singh as Young Bikramjeet Singh
  • Amit Gaur as Ajit, Harpreet's Brother[6]
  • Satish Kaushik as Gurcharan Singh (Sandeep Singh's father)
  • Seema Kaushal as Daljeet Kaur (Sandeep Singh's mother)
  • Danish Husain as Coach Kartar Singh
  • Jasmin Bajwa as Minaxi Singh
  • Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Chairman of Indian Hockey Federation
  • Vijay Raaz as Harry (Sandeep Singh's Coach)
  • Jimmy Moses 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 purchased the rights to make a biopic on the life of former India Hockey captain Sandeep Singh.[7][8] In July 2017, it was reported that Chitrangda Singh would be collaborating with Sony Pictures Networks to produce the film in which Diljit Dosanjh would be playing the lead role.[9] For the role of Sandeep Singh, the first preference of the producers was Ranveer Singh but the actor refused to do the film on being offered the role in the year 2016 citing lack of dates.[10] Initially, for the role of Harpreet, the makers of the film had finalized Ileana D'Cruz 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.[11] In September 2017, it was reported that Taapsee Pannu had been signed to play the romantic lead opposite Diljit Dosanjh in the film.[12][13]

Filming

The principal photography of the film began in Shahabad in November 2017.[14] The next schedule of the filming process took place in Chandigarh in December 2017.[15][16] For the final schedule of filming, which involved shooting the hockey matches, the production unit moved to Belgrade in Serbia where shooting continued for 10 days before coming to an end on 24 December 2017.[17][18][19] The Hockey sequences in the film were choreographed by Sandeep Singh and his brother Bikramjit Singh.[20]

The official trailer of the film was released on 11 June 2018.[21]

Soundtrack
Soorma
Soundtrack album by
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy
Released11 June 2018 (2018-06-11)
Recorded2017-2018
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length23:27
LanguageHindi
Punjabi
LabelSony Music India
Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy chronology
Raazi
(2018)		 Soorma
(2018)		 Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi
(2019)

The music of the movie is composed by Shankar–Ehsaan–Loy with lyrics by Gulzar.[22][23] Contestants of the Talent Hunt show Rising Star, Hemant Brijwasi[24][25] and Akhtar Brothers were offered a song by Shankar Mahadevan and Diljit Dosanjh for the movie.[26][27]

Vipin Nair of The Hindu gave the soundtrack 3.5/5 calling it a "classy soundtrack".[28][29]

Track listing
No.TitleSinger(s)Length
1."Ishq Di Baajiyaan"Diljit Dosanjh4:47
2."Soorma Anthem"Shankar Mahadevan4:12
3."Good Man Di Laaltain"Sukhwinder Singh, Sunidhi Chauhan3:25
4."Pardesiya"Ehsaan Noorani, Shankar Mahadevan, Shehnaz Akhtar, Hemant Brijwasi, Sahil Akhtar4:57
5."Flicker Singh"Ehsaan Noorani, Shankar Mahadevan, Shehnaz Akhtar, Hemant Brijwasi, Sahil Akhtar6:06
Total length:23:27

Reception

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 46% based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 5.3/10.[30]

Soorma received mixed reviews from critics.[31] Subhash K Jha of Business Standard says, "After extolling a gangster, Bollywood salutes a true hero" and gave it 4.5 stars out of 5.[32] Ronak Kotecha of The Times of India 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.[33] Divya Pal of News18 gave the film a rating of 2 out of 5 saying that the film is well intentioned but lacks depth.[34] Rohit Vats of Hindustan Times 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 Vijay Raaz, Angad Bedi and Satish Kaushik.[35] Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV criticized the film saying that Soorma is "a hockey film sans genuine impetus" and gave it a rating of 2 out of 5.[36] Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave the film a rating of 2.5 out of 5 and praised Diljit Dosanjh for his portrayal of Sandeep Singh but felt that the film falls short of becoming a sports film that would leave a lasting impact.[37] Taran Adarsh of Bollywood Hungama 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".[38]

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 and marked up to ₹2.10 crores approximately. From day 12th-15th day it collected ₹2.45 crores.[2]

Sequel

Chitrangada Singh 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. [39]

References
  1. "Soorma (2018) - Movie - Box Office India". Box Office India. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
  2. "Soorma Box office and days wise break up Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
  3. "Diljit Dosanjh as Sandeep Singh in Soorma: Who is Sandeep Singh?". Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  4. "Diljit Dosanjh transforms into drag-flicker Sandeep Singh in biopic. See photo". Hindustan Times/. 27 November 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  5. "Diljit Dosanjh as Hockey Legend Sandeep Singh In 'Soorma'". The Quint. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  6. "Amit Gaur: I feel proud to be associated with Soorma". The Indian Express. 13 July 2018.
  7. "Now a film on hockey player Sandeep Singh". The Hindu. 3 November 2014.
  8. "Chitrangada to produce a biopic on hockey player Sandeep Singh". The Indian Express. 12 December 2014.
  9. "Diljit Dosanjh to play hockey ace Sandeep Singh in Chitrangda Singh's production". Mumbai Mirror.
  10. "Not Diljit Dosanjh, but Ranveer Singh was the first choice to play Sandeep Singh in Soorma". India Today.
  11. "Ileana D'Cruz picks Ajay Devgn over Diljit Dosanjh". DNA India. 21 August 2017.
  12. "Taapsee Pannu to feature opposite Diljit Dosanjh in the Shaad Ali-directed Sandeep Singh biopic". Mumbai Mirror.
  13. "Taapsee Pannu all set to star opposite Diljit Dosanjh in the untitled Shaad Ali film". Bollywood Hungama.
  14. "Sandeep Singh Biopic: Taapsee Pannu Begins Filming in Shahbad". News18. 13 November 2017.
  15. "An afternoon on Diljit Dosanjh's Soorma set". Rediff.
  16. "Taapsee Pannu wraps up the India schedule of sports biopic 'Soorma'". DNA India. 16 December 2017.
  17. "Chitrangda Singh's Soorma wraps shoot before the allotted time". Bollywood Hungama.
  18. "Soorma team wraps up shooting as Taapsee Pannu invites audience for a gripping watch". The Indian Express. 25 December 2017.
  19. "Diljit Dosanjh: Said no to Sandeep Singh biopic Soorma two-three times". The Indian Express. 9 December 2017.
  20. "Sandeep Singh, Bikramjit Singh to direct hockey scenes in Soorma". Bollywood Hungama.
  21. "'Soorma' trailer: The intriguing story of Sandeep Singh is sure to win your hearts - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 11 June 2018.
  22. "Diljit Dosanjh to croon a song penned by Gulzar for Soorma". Bollywood Hungama.
  23. "Sony India Sets up Sports Biopic 'Soorma'". Variety. 28 November 2017.
  24. "Rising Star 2 winner Hemant Brijwasi: Through this show, I got a chance to sing for upcoming movies Soorma and Genius". The Indian Express. 16 April 2018.
  25. Saifi, Javed (20 April 2018). "Straight from the heartland". The Hindu.
  26. "Rising Star contestants to sing songs for soorma". DNA India. 17 March 2018.
  27. "Shankar Mahadevan gives reality show contestants a Bollywood break". Mumbai Mirror.
  28. Nair, Vipin (10 July 2018). "A class act". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  29. "Soorma - Music Review (Bollywood Soundtrack) | Music Aloud". www.musicaloud.com. 10 July 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
  30. "Soorma (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved 30 October 2021.
  31. Gaikwad, Pramod (13 July 2018). "Soorma movie review roundup: Diljit Dosanjh, Taapsee Pannu and Angad Bedi's sports biopic gets mixed response". International Business Times.
  32. "'Soorma': After extolling a gangster, Bollywood salutes a true Hero".
  33. "Soorma Movie Review". The Times of India.
  34. "Soorma Movie Review: Diljit Dosanjh Makes Sandeep Singh's Biopic Watchable". News18. 16 July 2018.
  35. "Soorma movie review: Diljit Dosanjh's film misses the target". Hindustan Times. 13 July 2018.
  36. "Soorma Movie Review: Diljit Dosanjh Makes The Best Of A Bad Deal". NDTV.
  37. "Soorma review: Diljit Dosanjh as Sandeep Singh is spot on". The Indian Express. 14 July 2018.
  38. "Soorma Movie Review: Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. 12 July 2018. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
  39. "'Soorma 2': Chitrangda Singh to produce the sequel to the Diljit Dosanjh and Taapsee Pannu starrer". The Times of India. 17 April 2018.
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