Tiki Taka- A comedy of errors and the Kolkata Derby
Tiki-taka is a term that has been synonymous with football for the past decade. Tiki-taka means beautiful passing football. The style is adapted from Johan Cruyff's planned philosophy of total football during his Barcelona days and has been moulded into a faster variant of the passing system.
Tiki-taka is credited with making Barcelona one of the greatest teams in sporting history and also the most fantastic team in football during the Guardiola era. Tiki-taka also played a considerable role in helping Spain win a World Cup and two European championships. The tiki-take style also helped Spain win its first-ever international trophy.
Football fans in India, and especially in Kolkata, were curious and filled with happiness at the same time when the posters and the teaser for a film titled Tiki Taka was released. The name suggested that the film had a lot to do with the tiki-taka style football.
The basic outline of the film, which released on 11th September, shows how a random African turns into a footballer due to a comedy of errors. It also shows the importance of the Kolkata Derby or a Boro match in Kolkata and Bengal as a whole.
The film also touches on how individual African footballers are lured by the glamour and the glitz associated with the derby and the Big Two from Kolkata.
The film does a reasonably good job of trying to showcase the importance of the derby. But, given the expectations one had of the film and the use of tiki-taka in the title, this particular angle is something which will keep the audience wanting for more. The on-field football action is very limited in the movie as it keeps tracking the life of Khelechi Ajgubi in Kolkata.
Some of the illegal off-field activities shown in the film are also very true, and we have seen numerous media reports regarding the same issues.
The film does a good job trying to show the different angles of Kolkata football through the lens of the media, fans, agents and of course club officials.
The film is low on footballing action as much time is given to the build-up to the game than the actual game. It will also not make you laugh a lot, but the drama quotient in the film is high. Indian football fans, and football fans in general, should be able to connect with the movie.
The film stars Prambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty, Nigerian actor Emona Enabula, and Saswata Chatterjee.
If you are looking for a light-hearted movie with a mix of drama and comedy with football served as a side dish that engulfs the main course then Tiki Taka is the movie you need to see. The flim is streaming on Zee5.
Our Rating: 3 stars out of 5.