Budhia Singh – Born to Run
Movie Info
Synopsis
Budhia Singh Born To Run is a biographical sports film based on the Indian wonder boy Budhia Singh, who ran 48 marathons, when he was only five-years-old.Wikipedia
Starring Cast
Budhia Singh – Born to Run Reviews
6
It’s predictably told but heartfelt…and thought-provoking to boot. Not a bad way to spend two hours.
6
...there’s enough zest in the warp and weft of the film, to keep us engaged. It has a welcome sense of pace and place with the use of authentic-sounding Oriya lines being kept at a minimum which is much better than everyone fumbling over the accent.
8
Despite dramatic crests and troughs, Budhia Singh – Born To Run is true to the original story.At 111-minutes, Budhia Singh – Born To Run doesn’t give us any dull moments. It’s a fantastic relationship drama in the disguise of a tout thriller.
6
Though the film conforms to the rules of sports movies quite often, and has its share of embellishments and formulaic tangents too, it never succumbs to sports-movie formulas, rather, it manages to transcend the genre, only because it sticks to honestly telling a true story — so narratively compelling and enthralling the film is. It’s a film that has lots of heart… Go watch it!
7
Budhia Singh: Born To Run is not so much a film as it is a passionate appeal to remind and regain an opportunity for Odisha’s erstwhile Wonder Boy, now a forgotten teenager...
9
The film celebrates an improbable dream and mourns its untimely death, both with infectious passion, and ends with a fervent appeal on a behalf of a social media campaign to put Budhia back in his running shoes. Not a bad idea at all.Overall, Budhia Singh - Born to Run is worth running all the way to the nearest multiplex for.
8
Engrossing from start to finish, Soumendra Padhi deserves a standing ovation for bringing this rollercoaster journey of a child prodigy and his ambitious mentor to celluloid.
-
...an honest and sincere attempt at a sports biopic - a rarity in Bollywood, which tends towards melodrama and obscures reality even when it comes to telling real-life stories. For that alone, Padhi’s effort is commendable.
7
The story of Odisha’s wonder boy and his coach Biranchi Das needs to be heard. As a sports drama or a biopic, this one hits the right nerve.
7
Budhia Singh - Born To Run should be watched. It is well-made with its heart in the right place. Good performances, a pleasing story, a national hero angle (Like Airlift, Neerja, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag) - what more do you want?
5
...despite winning a national award and being a good film, has less awareness due to poor publicity and lesser star value. Due to this, BUDHIA SINGH - BORN TO RUN will face an uphill task at the box office. Overall, the film will have to rely heavily on word of mouth and strong audience support to post good box office figures. But if you are in the mood to watch an inspirational tale of human spirit, endurance and sacrifice, do watch this one.
9
...does not have the thrills and gimmicks to draw big numbers. But that's exactly what the film deserves. The stupendous storytelling of this film deserves a lot more than 100 crores. Just like it's protagonist in real-life, it needs a fighting chance. To run itself onto glory.
-
This is a story so fantastical that it's hard to believe it really happened, which makes it an excellent subject for a feature film. Padhi, to some extent, succeeds in crafting an engaging narrative, albeit with the most predictable of devices.
8
Extraordinary in ever sense this is a story that had to be told. Just as every Budhia needs a Biranchi Das , every story of an unsung hero needs a filmmaker with a dispassionate vision. Budhia Singh—Born To Run should be granted a tax exemption in every Indian state.
6
When a coach trains a five year old against all logic, is it for self publicity or has he really saved the boy from abject poverty and slavery? Does the government have any right over a young sportsperson's need to run or did they do a right thing? This movie tackles all this and more by telling us the story of a five year old marathon runner Budhia Singh and his devoted coach Birinchi Das. Will shake you up.
-
Except for a few good films, when a biopic meets Bollywood the end product is ususally not great, but that isn’t the case with this film. The heart of the film lies in the beautifully crafted relationship between Budhia played by little Mayur Patole and his coach played by Manoj Bajpai. So in all, this movie grasps your attention from start till the end. If you’re looking for a moving watch, Budhia Singh-Born To Run seems like the apt choice.
Audience Reviews for Budhia Singh – Born to Run
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Budhiya- Born to Run, another masterpiece sports biopic on the wonder boy marathon runner, is a film by Soumendra Padhi. Offlate we have seen a few very good biopics on screen viz. Neerja, Airlift, Aligarh etc. Even the forthcoming film Rustam is based on true life events. As far as sports biopics are concerned, we had Mary Kom and Bhag Milkha Bhag (and Azhar too) in the past. We are aware that in the coming months we are going to witness biopics on cricketers MS Dhoni and Sachin too. So, one might wonder, how does this biopic on Budhiya stand apart? Yes, it is different from the rest, since it is about a 5-year old Odhisha boy Budhiya, and stories like this certainly raise the bar of our films. This film was earlier titled as Duronto, and it has already won National Award of Best Children’s Film. Budhiya, a child prodigy, who indeed was born to run, created a world record, by running 48 marathons in a year’s time, when he was just 5 years old. It included his running 65 Kms in 7 hours 2 minutes from Puri to Bhubaneswar in 50 degree temperature in 2006. This milestone earned him Limca Book of Records. The film focuses on this wonder boy, the Youngest Marathon runner, his wonderful relationship with Coach Biranchi Das, shallowness of our system, politics, power play, hypocrisy of the officials etc. How beautifully the story of Biranchi and Bidhiya is projected on screen is to be seen and experienced.
Biranchi Das (played by exceptionally great actor Manoj Bajpai), who runs a Judo Training School for orphan children and forbidden / poor children at his home. He is also shown to be inclined towards social reforms. His source of income is shown from a restaurant and a salon. His wife Gita (Shruti Marathe) is his great support system in his endeavours. Budhia, the titular character played by Mayur Patole, was born in a slum in a very poor family, extremely impoverished upbringing. His mother Sukanti (Tilotama Shome) sells him to a vendor for Rs. 800. Biranchi Das spots Budhiya and brings him home, rather buys him back. Budhiya starts staying along with 22 other children at Biranchi’s place. Biranchi was astonished to explore that this 5 year Budhiya had the potential to run non-stop. Biranchi decides to coach Budhiya for marathons. It is interesting to see the bond between Biranchi and Budhiya. Biranchi and Geeta adopt Budhiya. It is incredible to see Budhiya breaking all the barriers of being a child and running marathons like an expert at such a tender age, where he does not even know to tie his shoe lace.
Biranchi and Budhiya were all over the headlines in Print and Electronic Media which covered Budhiya’s marathon running spree. But these accolades and the limelight later on created hurdles for Budhiya. Child Welfare Department intervened to question such a small child’s capacity to run such marathons. Budhiya was not given permission to run Delhi based Marathon at the last moment. Biranchi, a non-conformist in his own manner, was not ready to pay heed, and took head-on challenge with the Child Welfare Department. He further trains Budhiya to run one of the record-making marathon, i.e. a distance of 65 Kms from Puri to Bhubaneswar. He covers the distance in 7 hours 2 minutes.
The film does convey Biranchi’s methods of strict training for Budhiya, it also shows the other side to it by displaying footage of leading sports / technology personalities voicing their concern over such strenuous training and runs for Budhiya. Many questions were raised by the system. But Biranchi had answers to all of them quoting the example of golfer Tiger Woods and footballer Carlos Chera.
Obviously Biranchi could not fight the power play. Ultimately Budhiya was banned from running till he is 18 (now he is 14 years old) and he is in a Kalinga Sports Academy in Odisha.
What all events transpired which led to Budhiya’s ban? Though this coach-coachee’s relationship and fate is known by the world, let me not reveal, what happens to Biranchi? How did the authorities succeed in taking Budhiya away from Biranchi and put him in hostel ? It forces one to ponder, if a child can be allowed to play different sports viz. cricket, badminton, football etc, do swimming and compete in these areas as well, why can’t a child like Budhiya, whose potential lie in marathon running, be allowed to run? Why this bias towards Budhiya? Biranchi dreamt of making Budhiya participate in 2016 Olympics (Rio), which coincidently started today a day after this film’s release. If Budhiya was not banned, India could have had an Olympic medal surely to its credit. The film showcases the shallowness of the existing system and also the power tussle. An athlete usually faces hurdles and challenges during a race, but the hurdles before Budhiya was like putting an end to a brilliant runner’s innings.
What to talk about the performances! It is amazing to see Manoj Bajpayee effortlessly slip into every character which he plays on screen. He brings various facets of his character Biranchi live on screen: the enthusiasm of Biranchi on exploring Budhiya, his passion to take care of orphan kids treating them as his own, his drive in running Judo Training School, his frustrations / fighting with the system, his daring attitude to take head-on with the authorities / politicians.
Mayur as Budhiya is awesome. He brings so much credibility to the character. He is a natural performer. Rest of the kids at Biranchi’s place are also such wonderful natural performers, bring so much freshness with their simplicity.
Tilotama Shome as Sukanti – Budhiya’s mother and Shruti Marathe as Gita – Biranchi’s wife are also very good. Gajraj Rao is also very nice. Rest of the characters are also good.
Born to run anthem is very motivating and inspiring. It will give you goosebumbps for sure.
Certain moments are so wonderfully captured:
Biranchi coaching Budhiya
Biranchi’s interactions with his wife Gita
Interactions between kids in Biranchi’s home
Biranchi’s passion and conviction as a coach on Budhiya’s competency
Budhiya’s never-getting-tired attitude to listen to and follow Biranchi Das
Biranchi’s meeting with Budhiya for the last time
It is sad to understand that Budhiya still does not have the right to run. He says that he still can run, it is just that he needs a coach like Biranchi.
Budhiya – Born to win is a must watch film. Although, this story was supposed to be told earlier, the sincerity with which this film is made, probably may inspire the system to lift the ban on this wonder boy Budhiya, bring him back to tracks, facilitate him to fulfill the dreams of his selfless coach Biranchi Das and also to make a mark for India at Global level.
1August 07, 16
