India doesn’t have the sports documentary or docuseries culture as of yet. Other than the Sachin Tendulkar documentary released a couple of years ago, there hasn’t been a docu-series in the vein of “The Last Dance”, or “The Test”. Break Point is one of the firsts of such docu-series and as it stands it is an extremely compelling one.
Completely based on interviews and talking heads, from a technical standpoint Break Point stays at a default. But unlike Bollywood biopics of sports people, the interviews and thus the narrative are of real people, with their real personalities coming to the forefront. The rise of the Lee-Hesh friendship, the rise of their partnership in the Doubles stage, dubbed “The Indian Express”, their meteoric rise in popularity, and finally how egos and chinese whispers cause that partnership to come crashing down. In that regard the partnership of Paes and Bhupathi is both an inspiring story as well as a cautionary tale, as it had been quoted verbatim by both friends of the Paes family as well as other athletes and legends of the tennis world.
What filmmaker couple Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari does so well is let the principal players of the story speak their minds out, and when honesty and truth is allowed to have their way, true personalities of the key players are allowed to shine through. Leander Paes is a born leader, methodical and to some extent even controlling, while Mahesh Bhupathi is the introvert, the reliable one while Paes is the unpredictable one of the two. And it is fascinating to see how miscommunication and rise of ego and assertion by one party can cause the disruption of said balance. But it also shows how much respect both of these players still have for each other, even as their friendship seems frayed at the seams.
The best aspects of the show are when both Paes and Bhupathi describe specific matches, and both the directors manage to convey that tension to the viewers of this documentary, by making it feel like we are watching that set or that match in real time, while Paes and Bhupathi do commentary on said moments. It is fascinating, both the similarities and the differences these two players have, making you realize that this complimentary viewpoints made them good partners in court, but the off-court drama is sometimes agonizing and sometimes excruciating.
The episode which delves almost entirely into the off-court drama is the most it feels like a soap opera. This isn’t a knock to both Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi who I am sure it is very hard to dredge up such old memories, but the editing and music choices utilized in such moments feel grating and off-putting at points.
While long time fans of “The Indian Express” might not find much new material to uncover, for newcomers and fans of the sports documentary genre, Break Point is definitely a worthy addition to your watch-list, introducing you to both the two players, while also focusing on the humanity of these two souls, which is the sole requirement for viewers not acquainted with the sport to hold interest in said documentary.
Rating – 3.5/5
