Sudani From Nigeria is a great movie by many measures and should be on every Indian’s watch-list, not only that of the Malayalis and their ever ballooning soccer diaspora. An unheralded young man, Zakariya Mohammed, has written and directed a film that makes you wonder inside the darkness of the theatre about love, trust and friendship and wander in your mindscape to the goalposts of adolescence, touched by these raw, beating hearts on screen.
A great movie works at many levels—it makes you queasy and uneasy, it makes you cry and laugh and, finally, it makes you ready to reconsider received notions and leaves you almost on the cusp of a transformation. It prepares you to bury rancour and bitterness that life has left at your doorstep as debris.
Football is an escape route from individual corruption and failure for the youth in Malabar. Estrangement, alienation as well war and strife permeate the movie.
They are men and women struggling to express themselves and break the ice within and each other. A son, a mother and a stepfather poke around the edges of the penalty area, afraid to make that final move.
Saubin Shahir first caught the average Malalayli’s eyeballs with his comic acts in Premam, Maheshinte Prathikaram, Kali, etc. But befitting the strong tradition in Malayalam cinema of comedians evolving into actors of insuperable ability and awesome range (recall Bahadur, Bhasi, Jagathy, Suraj and most recently Indrans) Saubin has taken over Sudani From Nigeria completely. So convincing and moving is his portrayal of the manager of a struggling sevens football club, MYC Areekode, the man deserves nothing less than the national award for the best actor in the coming year. Majeed the manager is special—he is running the football club not to make money but money to make the football club run.
But don’t forget as the title subtly but unmistakably reminds us, Sudani From Nigeria is all about our fractured identities. In an African nation torn by civil war football is the only passport to a better life for antsy youngsters. Many make it but more fall by the wayside. The African presence in Indian football goes a long way (remember the Kenyan, Chima Okorie?) and in the past two decades, the engine of Kerala football, the sevens soccer, has hummed to the footfalls of African students and youngsters. It is awfully surprising that it took all this while to have a peep into that dark secret of what makes them football refugees.
And don’t miss the fact as Samuel Robinson (in real life the Nigerian youngster does not care a whit for soccer!) reminds us as well as Majeed and other football Majnus that unlike India, Nigeria has a proud history of playing in six of the last seven World Cups. When the Super Eagles take on Argentina in Russia on June 26, Malappuram would be on knife’s edge. That line by Samuel (carefully slipped in like a defence-splitting pass by the debutant director Zakariya) exposes the poverty of Indian football despite all the riches of the Ambanis and the unnerving din created by the ISL cheerleaders and intellectual trumpeteers. It also puts in perspective the recent love for football professed by former cricketers and Bollywood heroes and heroines.
Not to ignore it, the director Zakariya has said that Sudani From Nigeria is not a football movie. He has created easy, playful moments but the larger and sustained effort has been to bring two distinct, but complementing halves together, and make it whole.
As a critic I would still mark Sudani From Nigeria as a football movie since Zakariya has placed the ball where it belongs—not at the much contested Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor but at the dusty, weather-beaten grounds of rural Kerala, and here, without any ambiguities, in the beating hearts of sevens football, in a Malappuram hamlet that goes by the name of Vazhayoor.
MYC Areekode and its manager Majeed (who considers himself in the league of manager Zidane in terms of his travails) is not a simpleton but nurses his own injuries, felled by life in its selection trials. Majeed, played by a buoyant Saubin Shahir, seeks football glory and as is the tradition in the sevens football relies on ‘guest stars’ to outclass opponents and lift trophies. He signs on a couple of Nigerians and Samuel Abiola Robinson is his Messi.
In disclaiming Sudani From Nigeria as a sports movie, Zakariya would have wanted to broaden the appeal of his movie and it is not for nothing that the key event in the movie, Samuel getting injured, is not on the football ground by a vengeful, butcher of a rival defender. It is a freak, bathroom accident. But in caring for the injured pardesi, by making Majeed bring home the ‘guest player’ as a guest to his home is a taunt both to corporate football and a football administration that has always tried to cripple the game at the grassroots by challenging the legality of sevens football on the countryside.
Again, Zakariya has written Sudani From Nigeria as a bold cultural statement—that of the generosity of people of Malabar, in many instances, mostly of Muslims. Not only Samuel, the Sudani From Nigeria who had lost his mother and, finally, his grandmother, we, too, are touched by the love showered on him by the two Ummas, (played with relish and panache by theatre artistes Savithri Sreedharan and Sarala Balusserry) who pray to their own totems for the speedy recovery of a young man belonging to another faith and other custom, in an age of creeping Islamophobia in Kerala. Sudani From Nigeria works as an antidote for Islamophobia and should be made a mandatory screening for the cultural revivalists much aggrieved at the ascendancy of the other.
Much as Zakariya would like to distance himself from Zidane, the climactic moment in Sudani From Nigeria is a paean to the power of football to level the field. That exchange of t-shirts, the mundane yet ultimate symbol of brotherhood among footballers at the end of an unforgiving rivalry, lifts this movie to great heights. Watch it. It will breach all your defences.
This is easily best Marvel movie so far, yet it's so unlike other Marvel movies simply due to sheer amount of element of surprise it offers (or shock rather). "Wtf just happened" could be the most common reaction after end of this one, excluding post credits part and yes it is a cliffhanger meaning 2nd part would be even more anticipated.
All superheros along with galaxies merged into single Extravaganza is dream come true for hardcore Marvel fans but yet it can be overwhelming for first time watchers thanks to brisk pace. Its longest, costliest & has many action scenes which are backed up by cool visual effects.
This is first time we have seen powers of Infinity stoneswith combined effect in action scenes- this is fascinating to watch. Screen time for heros is sufficient and crisp ,tbh you cant expect them to have character development even after 18 movies. Most of them gets their own moments , some gets funny chemistry (Chris pratt, robert downey jr and cumberbatch in one scene is mouth watering clash) , few hardly get one or two lines or limited screen time but thats expected.
Josh brolin has portrayed intimidating villain with no mercy,his appearance is all CGI yet his character shine through, and this is, hands down, directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s biggest achievement — finally rewarding fans with the Marvel Cinematic Universe villain they deserve Not to forget Black Order which makes Team thanos so formidable
Without taking the name of a single superhero (even attendance amounts to spoiler) all I'll reveal is that Thanos needs all six infinity stones in his gold gauntlet to achieve population chop-chop. And it'll take every single MCU star to stop him.
cons? None to me Looking Forward to Next part: hell yeah
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Why you must watch Sudani From Nigeria
Sudani From Nigeria is a great movie by many measures and should be on every Indian’s watch-list, not only that of the Malayalis and their ever ballooning soccer diaspora. An unheralded young man, Zakariya Mohammed, has written and directed a film that makes you wonder inside the darkness of the theatre about love, trust and friendship and wander in your mindscape to the goalposts of adolescence, touched by these raw, beating hearts on screen.
A great movie works at many levels—it makes you queasy and uneasy, it makes you cry and laugh and, finally, it makes you ready to reconsider received notions and leaves you almost on the cusp of a transformation. It prepares you to bury rancour and bitterness that life has left at your doorstep as debris.
Football is an escape route from individual corruption and failure for the youth in Malabar. Estrangement, alienation as well war and strife permeate the movie.
They are men and women struggling to express themselves and break the ice within and each other. A son, a mother and a stepfather poke around the edges of the penalty area, afraid to make that final move.
Saubin Shahir first caught the average Malalayli’s eyeballs with his comic acts in Premam, Maheshinte Prathikaram, Kali, etc. But befitting the strong tradition in Malayalam cinema of comedians evolving into actors of insuperable ability and awesome range (recall Bahadur, Bhasi, Jagathy, Suraj and most recently Indrans) Saubin has taken over Sudani From Nigeria completely. So convincing and moving is his portrayal of the manager of a struggling sevens football club, MYC Areekode, the man deserves nothing less than the national award for the best actor in the coming year. Majeed the manager is special—he is running the football club not to make money but money to make the football club run.
But don’t forget as the title subtly but unmistakably reminds us, Sudani From Nigeria is all about our fractured identities. In an African nation torn by civil war football is the only passport to a better life for antsy youngsters. Many make it but more fall by the wayside. The African presence in Indian football goes a long way (remember the Kenyan, Chima Okorie?) and in the past two decades, the engine of Kerala football, the sevens soccer, has hummed to the footfalls of African students and youngsters. It is awfully surprising that it took all this while to have a peep into that dark secret of what makes them football refugees.
And don’t miss the fact as Samuel Robinson (in real life the Nigerian youngster does not care a whit for soccer!) reminds us as well as Majeed and other football Majnus that unlike India, Nigeria has a proud history of playing in six of the last seven World Cups. When the Super Eagles take on Argentina in Russia on June 26, Malappuram would be on knife’s edge. That line by Samuel (carefully slipped in like a defence-splitting pass by the debutant director Zakariya) exposes the poverty of Indian football despite all the riches of the Ambanis and the unnerving din created by the ISL cheerleaders and intellectual trumpeteers. It also puts in perspective the recent love for football professed by former cricketers and Bollywood heroes and heroines.
Not to ignore it, the director Zakariya has said that Sudani From Nigeria is not a football movie. He has created easy, playful moments but the larger and sustained effort has been to bring two distinct, but complementing halves together, and make it whole.
As a critic I would still mark Sudani From Nigeria as a football movie since Zakariya has placed the ball where it belongs—not at the much contested Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Kaloor but at the dusty, weather-beaten grounds of rural Kerala, and here, without any ambiguities, in the beating hearts of sevens football, in a Malappuram hamlet that goes by the name of Vazhayoor.
MYC Areekode and its manager Majeed (who considers himself in the league of manager Zidane in terms of his travails) is not a simpleton but nurses his own injuries, felled by life in its selection trials. Majeed, played by a buoyant Saubin Shahir, seeks football glory and as is the tradition in the sevens football relies on ‘guest stars’ to outclass opponents and lift trophies. He signs on a couple of Nigerians and Samuel Abiola Robinson is his Messi.
In disclaiming Sudani From Nigeria as a sports movie, Zakariya would have wanted to broaden the appeal of his movie and it is not for nothing that the key event in the movie, Samuel getting injured, is not on the football ground by a vengeful, butcher of a rival defender. It is a freak, bathroom accident. But in caring for the injured pardesi, by making Majeed bring home the ‘guest player’ as a guest to his home is a taunt both to corporate football and a football administration that has always tried to cripple the game at the grassroots by challenging the legality of sevens football on the countryside.
Again, Zakariya has written Sudani From Nigeria as a bold cultural statement—that of the generosity of people of Malabar, in many instances, mostly of Muslims. Not only Samuel, the Sudani From Nigeria who had lost his mother and, finally, his grandmother, we, too, are touched by the love showered on him by the two Ummas, (played with relish and panache by theatre artistes Savithri Sreedharan and Sarala Balusserry) who pray to their own totems for the speedy recovery of a young man belonging to another faith and other custom, in an age of creeping Islamophobia in Kerala. Sudani From Nigeria works as an antidote for Islamophobia and should be made a mandatory screening for the cultural revivalists much aggrieved at the ascendancy of the other.
Much as Zakariya would like to distance himself from Zidane, the climactic moment in Sudani From Nigeria is a paean to the power of football to level the field. That exchange of t-shirts, the mundane yet ultimate symbol of brotherhood among footballers at the end of an unforgiving rivalry, lifts this movie to great heights. Watch it. It will breach all your defences.
Has anyone seen it ? Is it worth the hype ??
Avengers
This is easily best Marvel movie so far, yet it's so unlike other Marvel movies simply due to sheer amount of element of surprise it offers (or shock rather).
"Wtf just happened" could be the most common reaction after end of this one, excluding post credits part and yes it is a cliffhanger meaning 2nd part would be even more anticipated.
All superheros along with galaxies merged into single Extravaganza is dream come true for hardcore Marvel fans but yet it can be overwhelming for first time watchers thanks to brisk pace. Its longest, costliest & has many action scenes which are backed up by cool visual effects.
This is first time we have seen powers of Infinity stoneswith combined effect in action scenes- this is fascinating to watch.
Screen time for heros is sufficient and crisp ,tbh you cant expect them to have character development even after 18 movies. Most of them gets their own moments , some gets funny chemistry (Chris pratt, robert downey jr and cumberbatch in one scene is mouth watering clash) , few hardly get one or two lines or limited screen time but thats expected.
Josh brolin has portrayed intimidating villain with no mercy,his appearance is all CGI yet his character shine through, and this is, hands down, directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s biggest achievement — finally rewarding fans with the Marvel Cinematic Universe villain they deserve
Not to forget Black Order which makes Team thanos so formidable
Without taking the name of a single superhero (even attendance amounts to spoiler) all I'll reveal is that Thanos needs all six infinity stones in his gold gauntlet to achieve population chop-chop. And it'll take every single MCU star to stop him.
cons? None to me
Looking Forward to Next part: hell yeah
Overall 4.5/5