Penalty is a story of an aspiring football player whose dream of playing nationally is threatened when he faces discrimination for his Manipuri background.
Netflix comes up with a movie titled Penalty that tries to highlight the racism and hardship faced by the North-eastern people of India. Released in 2019, Penalty received mixed reviews from viewers and critics. On Netflix, it is in the top 10 featured list for this month. Let’s have a detailed look at what this movie is all about.
Penalty is directed by Shubham Singh, who is known for his previous work as an assistant director for films like Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Son of Sardar, and Meri brother ki Dulhan. This film marks his debut as a director. The script is written by Tasha Bhambra, Akhilesh Choudhary, Sparsh Khetarpal, and Shubham Singh.
Penalty: Plot & Storyline
The story is of a Manipuri boy Lukam (Lukram Smil) who aspires to play football for India. He joins S.R.M.U., Lucknow as it is the best college for football. He joins the college a couple of weeks later and finds that the registration for the selection of football team has been closed. His roommate Dhillon helps him to contact their head coach so that he is given a chance to prove himself. Later, Lukram justifies that a massive earthquake shook the entire north-east. People from other parts of Indian didn’t bother about the northeast, as they don’t consider it as an integral part of India.
Lukram fights day and night with the society and called an outsider or referred to as ” Chinki”. For the same reason, he is not selected in the college team by the selection committee chief Vikram Singh. There was a time when football was dominated by eastern India. Vikram was a great player then, but it didn’t digest the selection committee that how a guy from Lucknow can play this sport so well and treated him as an outsider, hence Vikram didn’t get selected. This movie signifies the social differences that we have. How we call our own countrymen an outsider? How we are neglecting the talent due to social differences?
Who are the cast members?
- Lukram Smil as Lukram
- Kay Kay Menon as Vikram Singh
- Shashank Arora as Parth
- Manjot Singh as Ishwerjot Singh Dhillon
- Bijou Thaangjam as Bijou
- Aakash Dabhade as Jugaadu a.k.a Chandan
Trailer
It is refreshing to see someone making a full-flown feature film on Northeast-related problems. However, a fresh perspective, with tighter story-telling and a better protagonist shouldering that kind of responsibility would have done the trick. You can watch the trailer here:
Where to watch Penalty?
You can watch Penalty on Netflix India.
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