Thread by @Rnb129

Never one for movies, even less so a First Day First Show. But then this was about hockey, so off I ran to watch #GOLDMovie
Initial reaction: Must watch!
My Rating:
Conformity to purpose: 4.5/5
Conformity to facts: 3.5/5 (But then this is #Bollywood. A little latitude is okay!)

Akshay Kumar was simply outstanding as the coach. I've always believed he'd make a much better Kabir Khan for #ChakDeIndia than SRK. His performance in #GoldMovie will show you just why!

#GoldMovie also didn't have any of the out of place item numbers or romantic subplot, usually thrust on the viewer as "necessary for script". Whatever little of it, blended in perfectly with the needs of the plotline. Which was the last movie you can say this for?

Credit where it's due. Kudos to #Bollywood for a movie without much masala, focussing on the forgotten heroes of 1948, showing us the back story behind what many take for granted: Those Gold Medals were no walks in the park as is commonly believed #GoldMovie

That's both off the field and on it - Off the field of course you had petty officials, poor funding, Partition, and all round negativity. If you think their troubles were only off field, and things were smooth once play began, think again.

The primary problem was the openly partisan refereeing across all Olympics, that ignored blatantly rough play from the European teams. Brown sahebs in the Indian management pussyfooted on complaining, which would risk their standing in the corridors of power.

Any surprises India played the hosts in the final for 3 out of their first 4 Golds? I find that too much of a coincidence.
(The other one was 1932 Los Angeles where the USA was simply too useless at hockey, and their 24-1 defeat to India is still a record. Japan made that final)

On field too, they had challenges. India were the team to beat and the Europeans determined to show the brown upstarts who's boss. The 2-1 win over Holland in the 1948 semis is regarded as a very close shave, as India got kissed on both cheeks by Lady Luck in the final minutes!

Ironically when #NationalAnthem was "forcibly" played at the start, most people stood up slowly, almost an afterthought, if respectfully.
When it was played for medal ceremony at the end "as part of movie", the reaction was spontaneous. Not one person with a dry eye, or seated.

After a 3-hour walkthrough on the sweat, toil and stress behind an Olympic Gold - the source of your patriotism & pride - reverence for the Anthem is spontaneous but when normally told to stand up and accord respect to everything the #NationalAnthem stands for, it's "imposition"?