‘Gold’, even though was rumoured to have deviated from its release date, seem to be on schedule. The film has retained its release date, August 15, marking the occasion of India’s Independence Day. Well, owing to the patriotic theme of the film, it is an apt date chosen by the makers for the release of the Akshay Kumar, Mouni Roy starrer.
Readers may be aware that ‘Gold’ is a sports drama revolving around the real-life incident of India’s first hockey win post-Independence. Not surprisingly, there is an emotional value attached to the film and it is not special only to the makers but also every Indian. Explaining the reason behind it, Reema Kagti stated in reports about how India had won a gold medal even in the past. The director of Gold revealed that India had won a gold medal way back in 1936 during the Berlin Olympics. However, the then India was under the British Rule.
But, the win of 1948 in London was after India became an independent nation. Speaking one of those special moments from her film in recent reports, Reema Kagti reminisced about a sequence where Akshay Kumar pulls out the Indian National Flag in the locker room to boost the spirits of his teammates. Apparently, the flag was then banned in Germany and yet the moment is iconic because it inspired the players as they saluted it.
The emotions of patriotism, according to Reema, is one of the driving forces in Gold. The film also will have both the iconic matches as a part of the film – the 1936 and the 1948 matches. Reema maintained that even though the characters in the film are not completely based on real-life individuals, they have been inspired by the memorable ones. Like, the filmmaker mentioned that the role of Akshay Kumar is partly inspired by the assistant manager of the Indian hockey squad during the 1936 Berlin Olympics. He had actually risen up the rank by the time India won its first match in 1948 in London.
On the other hand, elaborating on the prep for Gold, Reema Kagti maintained that she wanted a professional for her and the cast to understand the game. So she got Michael Nobbs on board, who has not only played in the 1948 Olympics but has also coached the Indian hockey team for two years since 2011. She further added that her team too underwent prep beyond just learning the game. They had to understand the sport when it was played in a different era, that is the 40s and the rules, even the sticks used then were different.