Anand Datla is a management consultant with a passion for sport

Can Freaky Ali bring golf to the masses ?

Freaky Ali, the movie with golf at its heart, comes at a good time for golf in India

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Freaky Ali is a movie in which golf is central to the theme. But it will be the success of our golfers that will eventually popularise the game

Anand Datla

Sep 11, 2016: Nawazuddin Siddiqui is on the screens this week, playing a middle class golfer with world class aspirations. The movie Freaky Ali seeks to demystify golf for the common man with his performance as a recovery agent turned golfer. The movie, released on Friday, around the time of Arnold Palmer’s birthday is an interesting take on a game traditionally considered the preserve of the rich.

Palmer, who turned 86 on Saturday, was a monumental force in taking golf to a larger audience in America and around the world. He is credited with being a common man’s champion due to his endearing ways with the fans and his competitors.

Palmer constantly made eye contact with his fans and took pains to ensure that his autograph was legible, every single time he signed a souvenir.

Freaky Ali is a film in which a collection agent takes to golf, peeved by the brash attitude of a rich customer who had time to play golf but not repay the debt.

“Our film has this concept. It’s a myth that golf is a game played by the rich only,” said Nawazuddin, speaking at a promotion for the film. “We want golf to be played in the streets just like cricket.”

The protagonist of the movie and his co-star Amy Jackson were spotted playing golf on the streets of Mumbai in their effort to take the film to their audiences.

“Obviously our film is about golf. So we have incorporated golf into raising awareness about the streets of Bombay and the potholes,” said Amy. “And showing all the people how good Nawaz (Nawazuddin) is as a golfer. So we have putted a few balls into the potholes.”

The film has been produced by Salman Khan and directed by Sohail Khan. The film also stars Arbaaz Khan as the friend to Nawazuddin and the man that carries his bag.

One may have wished that the film contained a better script and more organised screenplay to help it run to larger audiences. The use of a cliched narrative and crude comedy seemed to have hurt the movie at the box office.

It would have taken a very successful movie to help golf reach the masses in India. Unfortunately Freaky Ali seems set for an ordinary run, lasting a few weeks at best.

Meanwhile, it will be the heroics of stars such as SSP Chawrasia, Anirban Lahiri, Aditi Ashok and S Chikkarangappa that will continue to popularise the game in India. The recent return of golf to the Olympics will also help spread the game outside of the rich clubs.

The emergence of Shubham Jaglan, who rose from the paddy fields of Haryana to a junior golfer of international repute is the kind of narrative that will spin golf into a higher orbit in India. It is good that we finally have a movie spun around golf, but it will be the success and determination of these young golfers that will chart the course for golf in India.

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