The Voot Select sports docu-series ‘Bandon Mein Tha Dum’ marks a bonafide draw of the anecdote of versatility that the Indian players exhibited during their celebrated Test series to triumph upon Australia in 2020-21. Steered by Neeraj Pandey, who earlier piloted the film M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story renown, the docuseries of the stellar success can possibly return you to the hair-raising jiffy when Rishabh Pant hit Josh Hazlewood to long-off for a limit which skewered Australia’s ‘Fortress Gabba’ smearing us with pride.
The series with crispy, chunky four episodes manage to keep the audience hooked to the screens, with Jimmy Shergil, the very amazing Bollywood actor’s heavy rustic voice-over, while he sparks on the intense moments. The actor voices a worthy narrative for the historic win of the Indian cricket team. But while we definitely get thrilled and gushed by the incidents in the 180-minute virtual ride, we also feel that the series lacks the charm and aura of the grand Gabba Heist of 2021.
The series also ushers on a stupendous showreel with cricket stars including Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravichandran Ashwin, Rishabh Pant, Washington Sundar and Mohammed Siraj. What’s more, Neeraj Pandey also managed to get Australia’s then captain, Tim Paine, and also Pat Cummins aka the pace ace, who reminisced the incidents.
Needless to say, since Voot Select announced the sports docu-series on Twitter, all cricket fans were waiting on a dying note to witness the thrilling moments once again, and thanks to this giant streaming platform that it brought up a thorough analysis of the win, with the episodes, named as ‘Skyfall’, ‘You Only Live Twice’, ‘A view to Kill’ and ‘License to Kill’.
What’s more, Neeraj Pandey makes the show a penultimate one to watch for the cricket buffs. Rifting on the stunning dedication of the cricketers, the docu-series builds on the phenomenal reminiscences of the historic win, with a factual chronology of the win. Whilst that, Ashwin remains the star of the documentary. Ashwin builds on the series making it a one-on-one watch for the fans with his humour and wit.
We also get a titbit on how racism has been existential throughout the process, with Siraj’s revelation on how he faced racist slurs from the Australian fans. While on the other hand, Rahane and Pujara spoke about how they worked on the team, trying to rebuild it after Virat Kohli left.
For the last straw, with all mix and matches, and emotional beats of the players on how they dealt with the adversities round the clock, the compact, tidy four-episode documentary series is a definite must-watch!
IWMBuzz rates it 3 stars
