Jio Studios and Fresh Lime Films’ Sumo Didi is a sports biographical film. It is the story of Hetal Dave (Shriyam Bhagnani), a talented wrestler who discovers sumo by chance. She realises that her road to becoming a sumo wrestler is very steep but she is not the one to give up. Despite her middle-class background and her conservative upbringing, she goes to Japan and endures rigorous training to become a living legend and the only Indian professional female sumo wrestler.
Nikhil Sachan has written a story based on the true-life story of Hetal Dave. The story is inspiring. His screenplay, with additional screenplay by Anish Diddee and Ajay Gahlaut, is quite interesting. Having said that, it must be added that the drama tends to become monotonous in parts as it moves on a single track. Also, similar biographical dramas about sports stars have been seen in earlier films. Nikhil Sachan’s dialogues are fair.
Shriyam Bhagnani plays Hetal Dave well. Raghav Dheer acts ably. Anubha Fatehpuria shines in the role of Sudha. Chaitanya Sharma has his moments. Nitesh Pandey is pretty effective. Nilanjan Datta plays football coach Ganguly with conviction. Dibyani Das is good as young Hetal. Meenal Kapoor is quite realistic. Others provide nice support.
Jayant Rohatgi’s direction is fair for a debut attempt. Amar Mangrulkar’s music and background music are quite nice. Lyrics (Nikhil Sachan) are okay. Akash Agrawal’s cinematography is of a fine standard. R.P. Yadav’s action and stunt scenes afford thrill. Dev Rao Jadhav’s editing should’ve been sharper.
On the whole, Sumo Didi is an average fare for OTT viewing. Since similar sports films have been seen earlier, it offers no novelty in that sense.
Released on 23-10-’26 on Zee5.