Lee-Hesh. The most popular hyphenation in Indian Sports history. The “Indian Express” of tennis. The chest bumps. The first pair since 1952 to reach four successive Grand Slam Finals in one year (1999) and winning two of them, the French Open and the Wimbledon. Sixteen titles together, 24 successive Davis Cup triumphs and the only Indian pair to be valued World No 1!! They say tennis is a lonely sport. And you would expect that a doubles team would be talking, communicating to each other and that would be the glue powering them forward. What an irony that for most of their heydays, the pair were not even on talking terms!
The remote has no advantage, pardon the terrible pun. Pass_Me_The_Remote reviews the story of the rockstars of Indian tennis #BreakPoint, streaming on #ZEE5. The seven-part series is director duo Ashwini Iyer and Nitesh Tiwari’s ( #Panga, #Dangal) tribute to the go-getter, in-your-face boy from Kolkata and the reticent but resolute boy from Bangalore who went on to script sports history but whose story also went downhill all the way, a tale of jealousy, betrayal and anger.
As I sat down to watch the show, I could not help thinking about how much potential a plot like this could have. The best of Sports, relationships, ego, emotions and perhaps even a potential reconciliation in real time ? Whoa…doesn't get bigger and better than that.
The show gets its research spot on…the questions, the data and the key characters in the drama are all there. You rarely miss the lack of archive footage. The list of talking heads is quite impressive - there are the rivals (#Mike and #BobBryan, #ToddWoodbridge and #MarkWoodforde), partners (#RadekStepanek, #MartinaHingis, #SaniaMirza and #RohanBopanna), Family (#DrVecePaes, #KrishnaBhupathi, #MiraBhupathi, #KavitaBhupathi) and coaches (#NandanBal and #EnricoPiperno). The makers have also lined up #AmitabhBachchan to speak about the pair. The protagonists of the drama #LeanderPaes and #MaheshBhupathi are in two different locations and narrate their respective sides of the story in their trademark styles, giving you a unique insight into their personalities and allowing you to form your own conclusions.
Some of the interviews give you unique insights into the persona. Paes is all showman with dramatic pauses, calculating, materialistic and plays to the camera. When it comes to the rumours about them , he says “it was the human psychology; the chalupanthi, the keeda”. He is referring here to the 1997 French Open where Bhupathi, India’s first Grand Slam champion partners Japan’s #RikaHiraki to the title win. Ruminating on their losses in 1999, he says “it was our worst year in terms of communication, Bhupathi, meanwhile, uses his words like currency and is reticent and reflective and sometimes even admits to being led by his ego. Viewers will find some nuggets of pure delight too . For example, in an India of that time when sport was equated with cricket, Paes and Bhupati actually ended up shooting a commercial along with #GeoffBoycott where the duo end up playing cricket.
What could have been better. I do not think the #Tiwaris bring their a game to the direction; the one-on-one interviews tend to become monologues at times and a tad boring; sometimes very predictable too. The questions that are asked by the invisible interviewer seem to have been added as an after-thought and are a jarring feature. There is a brief mention of the love-interests in the lives of Paes and Bhupathi also contributing to the tension but the show does not do justice to it . What is the show had culminated in a no-holds-barred confrontation of the two greats and perhaps a reconciliation? Now that the stuff that makes the show go down as a moment in history! I sometimes wonder if the show could have been taken to greater heights in the hands of an adept moderator. Imagine one of the international greats of that time, say Edberg or McEnroe, to have played this part ? Or even #Bachchan donning that role?
And it's not that this is altogether impossible. The two champions do talk about their misses and the sacrifices they make for each other. Leander lets go of his sponsorships to secure a better deal for Mahesh. And Mahesh, in turn, lets go off his coach #Piperno. The show weaves in and out of the challenges they face leading up to mid 2000 when they eventually part ways.
#BreakPoint tells the story of two modern-day champions who were clearly the Greatest in their days. Ironically this is also a show about what they could have gone on to achieve, perhaps much more than they actually did ! As for the emotional turmoil, the show for sure does not attempt to reconcile of bring about closure. And in a strange kind of way, it seems to be the most logical way to leave things the way they are!
