Tiki Taka – What is it?

The last 6 months have been anything but fun. What with corona scare and complete lockdown and partial lockdown and trying to keep our family and the self safe; maintaining sanity, let alone a positive attitude, has been a mammoth task.  For physical safety, we have restricted ourselves inside, however frustrating that is, and have only stepped out for urgent provisions or emergencies. Let us share our secret for mental health – we have watched back to back comedy movies and streaming media so that we could laugh our way through this nightmare. In our search for a comedy movie in Hindi, we came across Tiki Taka streaming on ZEE5

Tiki-taka is a style of play in Spanish football. Given that tiki-taka is not a popular style in Indian football, we were curious to watch the movie, and here is our review.

Source: ZEE5

About Tiki Taka – Spoiler Alert!

The words “Tiki-Taka” has a funny ring to the ear in the Indian context. Is Tiki Taka just a comedy movie or is there sports connect?

After watching Tiki Taka on ZEE5 we can say it is a happy fusion of both – comedy and football. The film is set in Kolkata which is no surprise because traditionally, Kolkata crowd has been plain crazy about football. In fact, comedy emanating out of a trail of errors, football and an unusual camaraderie are the pillars of this film.

The movie elaborates a typecast idea – all that African men do in India is play football. Consequently, some of them are unwittingly pulled to football whilst in India. This leads to some solid humorous Goalmaal in TikiTaka.  After all, stories of how foreigners are taken for a ride in India are not unheard of. Our protagonist Khelechi Ajgubi from Senegal is almost a similar victim before a change of heart bails him and leads to a solid bond of friendship.

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The film stars Emona Enabulu, an actor from Africa, in the role of Khelechi Ajgubi. Parambrata Chattopadhyay, Ritabhari Chakraborty and Saswata Chatterjee play other pivotal roles. Tiki Taka is mostly shot in Kolkata, other parts of West Bengal and North East India.

The film is directed by Parambrata Chattopadhyay as well, and Neel Dutta and Arko Pravo Mukherjee have sung the refreshing songs. The duration is 104 minutes that really fly fast.

Image Source: ZEE5

Ace comedy cast

The film is smart and no complaints about the editing. But what really stands out is the spontaneity with which comedy has evolved in Tiki Taka. The situations or punch lines do not seem contrived. This is no surprise because the supporting cast comprises of tried and tested veteran comedy actors Paran Bandyopadhyay, Kharaj Mukherjee, Kanchan Mallick, and Shantilal Mukherjee. These actors are stars in their own merit. Kudos to the director for not cutting corners on the central humour component of the film.

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Kolkata connect

It is Durga Puja time and Kolkata is in the limelight this time of the year.  The cinematography of Tiki Taka captures a vintage Kolkata. The yellow taxi, football grounds in every neighbourhood, the mansions and gullies of North Kolkata – all that is oodles of nostalgia. Watching Tiki Taka, we develop a serious craving of travelling to Kolkata here and now.

Closing thoughts

Parambrata, who has been an actor all these years and is now also trying his hand in direction, brings a fresh perspective to comedy in Tiki Taka. The visuals are delightful and every actor is so reserved in assaying their roles. The only thing that could have been improved is Parambrata’s makeup. In an endeavour to achieve the sun-tanned complexion of a taxi driver of Kolkata, he lands up looking like a caricature of Golliwog. But then, a few minutes into the movie, the character gets real and you stop noticing appearances.

Tiki Taka is streaming on ZEE5 since 11 September 2020. So, if you want to watch an engrossing comedy movie buoyed with a creative storyline, consistent acting, and cool visuals, Tiki Taka is for you.