Game Of Ayodhya

Story: A disgraced journalist Sunil Chaudhury (Sunil Singh) sets out on a journey to revisit the crisis of Babri Masjid demolition just days before Ayodhya verdict in order to clear his name, which was vehemently criticised for yellow journalism back in the 90s. What ensues along his path to redemption is the central plot of this docu-drama

Review: The seasoned reporter falls prey to his journalistic instinct of breaking a news before his competitors and reports about a religious group carrying out heinous crimes against another, which results in massive bloodshed. Fallen from grace and consumed by guilt, the journalist offers to publish a public apology but is turned down by his editor, who, instead, asked him to report on the impending Ayodhya verdict and bring out the positive side of it, if any.

‘Game of Ayodhya’ starts off with the struggles of an interfaith couple seeking solutions to their highly disoriented domestic life, and eventually ventures into the sensitive issue of Babri Masijd demolition and the subsequent riots between two dominant religious groups, with love at the heart of the story.

Veteran actors Makrand Deshpande and Abhay Bakshi have given solid performances but director Sunil Singh, who is also the protagonist in this film, fails to strike an emotional chord as a flawed reporter. His feelings, both towards the cause he is committed to and the inner conflict pertaining to his family, do not come through as real.

Since we are talking docu-drama here, the scriptwriter has thrown in a lot of historical information, starting from the 1800s but what fails to capture the audience’s attention is lack of neutrality. The film digs up the past, and while doing that, shows one religious group in poor light and glorifies the other.

'Game of Ayodhya' sums up with a message that is relevant to today’s time. But, a lot more effort was required in the area of acting, cinematography, direction and screenplay to make this one watchable.