Speedy Singhs (Hindi)
Release Date:
September 23, 2011Speedy Singh is a cross cultural family comedy set in the Indo-Canadian community in suburban Toronto, Canada.
Set in suburban Toronto, the film tracks a young man struggling between traditional Indo-Canadian family expectations and his dreams of hockey stardom.
Rajveer Singh is a 21 year old young man dreaming of a professional hockey career. We open with him dreaming of scoring a game winning goal, followed by a moment of bliss as beautiful girls surround him. Unquestionably, he has the talent to be an accomplished player, but faces many hurdles, the biggest of which is himself.
Raised as a traditional Sikh, Rajveer was forbidden as a boy to cut his hair and had to wear a turban, this stopped him from playing hockey, the game he loved. In his early teens, forsaking his family's religious traditions and beliefs, he removed his turban and cut his hair so he'd be more accepted within his country. His goal was to succeed in a traditional white man's sport, but this conflicted with his father's wish that he'd devote his life to his religion and the family business.
Unable to find a foothold in the game, Rajveer takes matters into his own hands by creating an all Indian hockey team (The Speedy Singhs), finding a coach and then bringing on his Uncle Sammy's trucking company as the team sponsor, doing all this behind his father's back. Along the way to the championship game, he is faced with the questions he had not wanted to address: family, friendship, loyalty and identity. And until he can answer these questions, the podium will always be out to his reach.
The entire film could be labeled a forgone conclusion. Not one single thing happens that you wouldn't have been able to tell from the trailer, if not from the title of the film. From the family problems, to the relationships, to the outcome of the grand championship. As typical, an underdog film, as it could get.
Wile I live in the US and it doesn't seem to showing (yet?) I have seen enough of the longer trailers, British and so forth to disagree that this is nothing you've seen before. Although it does seem to have similar plot and story line as "Bend It Like Beckham", it shows more of the Sikh faith- Gurdwara, Granthi, lots of bearded, Daastar wearing Punjabi-Canadian men. I find this refreshing being an American born Sikh who is now a grandfather of four Sikh grandchildren (2 in Amritsar attending an boarding school). I played goalie on ice hockey as a youth and on high school hockey team in 1960's in New England. In 1980 as a turban wearing Sikh in Boston I was asked to play goal tender again for a men's hockey league. I was quite good at age 30 then.
Anyway, I hope American's get to see Breakaway and cheer them on. This is not just a Canadian-Indian movie, its American as well and for Sikhs living over a century in both countries its refreshing to see the "Khanda"and Ek Ong Kar on the shoulders of the Speedy Singh's hockey jerseys.
Folks outside India and Great Britain may learn a little of Sikhs watching this movie as it shares our faith and our culture while showing we can laugh at ourselves.