Whether or not the film will be something worth seeing, whether or not you like its star Siddharth or even whether or not you know what the game Carrom is, Chandan Arora’s ‘Striker’ is breaking new grounds. For the first time a film will be OFFICIALLY released on YouTube worldwide and NO, Anurag Kashyap’s ‘Paanch’ being streamed there illegally last week or Sudhir Mishra’s yet unreleased ‘Tera Kya Hoga Johnny’ getting its unofficial premiere online to dire results DO NOT COUNT! This is done and approved every step of the way by its distributors.

Studio 18 is yet again the force behind some momentous cinema first. On February 5th, ‘Striker’ releases in theaters across India. While a theatrical release in the US is not planned, those of us living on this side of the Atlantic will be able to catch the film for rent on YouTube. While we’ll have to pay a minimal fee, the rest of the world will luck out in getting it for absolute free. But then again, those in India will have to catch it in a proper theater, since the YouTube stream won’t be available for them. The way I see it, it’s a win/win situation. Everyone can watch it, according to their country’s rules and regulations. Momentous.

Now onto the film itself. Siddharth has been a favorite of mine since his touching performance in ‘Rang De Basanti’. He’s also featured in the Mira Nair produced ‘AIDS JaaGO’. In the short ‘Blood Brothers’ he plays a man who suffers from a serious case of mistaken identity. Not faultless, he pays hard for his indiscretion. His performance is wonderful in that, he is both charismatic and fraught with human imperfections. I find those kinds of characters the most enjoyable to watch and he can be one of Indian cinema’s best exponent in playing them.

‘Striker’ is set in Bombay in the mid-80s. I guess that’s a great way for filmmakers to get their fill of calling Bombay by its proper name, as more and more films set in the city are now featuring that decade of time. Anyway, the basic concept of the film is about Surya’s (Siddharth) struggle to overcome all odds while excelling at both the game of Carrom and friendship… I will await to watch the film for a personal verdict. If the soundtrack is any indication, could be a winner!

Happy watching everyone and remember, it’s your cinema, don’t do it wrong and illegally download movies or watch pirated copies. Ask yourselves, would you really rather have a world where filmmakers no longer can afford to make the films you like to watch and all you can do for entertainment is tweet your friends in 140 characters or less?

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT3O5Fd-vrQ

Images and video courtesy of Indian Films/Studio 18

This entry was posted on Monday, February 1st, 2010 at 5:33 am and is filed under Films 2 See.