Artarena Creations Pvt. Ltd.’s Match Fixing (UA) is the story of how a political party created and spread the narrative of Saffron Terror to serve its own interests.
Based on Kanwar Khatana’s book, The Game Behind Saffron Terror, it is set in 2007 and thereafter, when Congress was in power at the Centre. A bomb blast in Samjhauta Express train prompts the Congress government to blame it on Hindus so as to appease the Muslim voters. Simultaneously, more unleashing of terror in India is being planned in Pakistan. In fact, some ministers and top officials in India are working in conjunction with Pakistan to weave the Saffron Terror narrative in a bid to stall the growing popularity of the opposition party in India. The Central government makes decorated army officer Avinash Patwardhan (Vineet Kumar Singh) a scapegoat to further its Saffron Terror narrative.
The story, based on the aforenamed book, is interesting and its adaptation is also proper. But Anuj S. Mehta’s screenplay is very long-drawn and, therefore, often monotonous. The drama unnecessarily goes into too much detail, robbing it of the excitement of a fast-moving narrative. No doubt, the screenplay is well-written but it is so lengthy that it often tests the audience’s patience. Secondly, it is written in a style which would cater more to the class audience. The detailing gets too heavy and boring for the average viewer. Sameer Garud’s dialogues are often weighty and meaningful.
Vineet Kumar Singh does an excellent job as Avinash Patwardhan. He acts with a lot of sincerity and integrity. Anuja Sathe lends gravitas to her character of Avinash’s understanding wife, Anuradha Patwardhan. Manoj Joshi is alright as Pervez Musharraf. His diction doesn’t go well with his character. Kishore Kadam makes his mark as Kishor Karmakar. Raj Arjun lends excellent support as Col. Imam. Shataf Figar makes his presence amply felt as General Pervez Ashfaq Kayani. Lalit Parimoo leaves a fine mark as Ranvijay Singh. Ekavali Khanna is okay as Rubia Huda. Ramanjit Kaur is alright as Asifa Andrabi. Elena Tuteja is natural as Madame. Vidya Karanjikar has her moments as Avinash’s mother, Vidya Patwardhan. Sangeeta Balchandran is okay as Shifa Setalvad. Vikas Rawat is natural as Avinash’s assistant, Rakesh. Chandrakant Taneja leaves a mark as the IB investigating officer. Tarun Bali is natural as Brig. Ijaz Ahmed Shah (ISI officer). Rajeev Panday is impactful as Hafiz Saeed. Rajesh Tripathi makes an impression as Dr. Zubair Naik. Yogi Yogendra (as Ismail Khan), Waqar Khan (as David Headley), Ramesh Joshi (as Devraj Patil), Ramesh Yadav (as Ahmed Patel), Uday Atroliya (as Swamy), Naval Shukla (as Gen. Iqbal Malik), Mahesh Chandra (as Shaukat Ali), Iftikar (as the maulvi), Shabri Zafri (as Aapa), Shraddha Pokhrankar (as Sadhvi Vidya), Pramod Pawar (as Maharashtra chief minister Vikasrao Patil), Shivam Mishra (as Ajmal Kasab), Shafiya Maqbool (as Fatima Bi), Anushka Junnarkar (as Avinash’s sister, Pooja Patwardhan), Kammy Kaur (as Benazir Bhutto) and the others lend fine support. Annu Kapoor’s narration is proper.
Kedaar Gaekwad’s direction is very good. He has narrated the subject in an interesting style but has kept in mind the classes more than the masses. Music (Rimi Dhar) is appropriate. Lyrics (Rimi Dhar and Saaveri Verma) are of a good standard. Hrishi Giridhar’s background music is very nice. Kedaar Gaekwad does a fine job of the cinematography. Abbas Ali Moghul’s action and stunt scenes are thrilling. Krishna Thakur’s production designing, and Ramchandra Jaiswar’s art direction are good. Ashish Dinkar Mhatre’s editing is sharp.
On the whole, Match Fixing is a well-made film which could’ve done well had it been shorter and crisper. In its present form, it will do below-average business. Lack of promotion is another big reason for the poor box-office prospects.
Released on 10-1-’25 at Metro Inox (daily 1 show) and other cinemas of Bombay by UFO Cine Media Network thru August Entertainment. Publicity & opening: poor. …….Also released all over. Opening was weak everywhere.