Paan Singh Tomar goes from celebrated runner to star brigand and rebel when life after sports fails to unfold as planned.
Ratings
Curator score: 8.8/10
IMDb: 8.2/10
TMDB: 7.4/10
Director
Tigmanshu Dhulia
Production
UTV Motion Pictures, UTV Spotboy Motion Pictures
Cast
Irrfan Khan, Mahie Gill, Vipin Sharma, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Imran Hasnee, Zakir Hussain, Rajendra Gupta, Brijendra Kala, Khan Jahangir Khan, Ashraf Ul Haq, Ravi Sah, Sitaram Panchal, Rajiv Gupta
Curator Review
Verdict
A gripping true-story sports biopic that turns unexpectedly into a tragic outlaw drama, anchored by a quietly devastating lead performance and a strong sense of social grievance. It’s especially rewarding if you like character studies that move from inspiration to bitterness without losing emotional clarity.
Best for
viewers who like biopics with a dark second-half turn
fans of understated, emotionally controlled performances
audiences interested in rural India, class resentment, and institutional failure
people who enjoy crime dramas rooted in real events
Skip if
you want a conventional feel-good sports movie
you prefer fast-paced, plot-heavy action
you’re looking for light entertainment or broad comedy
you dislike tragic, morally ambiguous protagonists
Overview
Paan Singh Tomar starts like a familiar athletic biopic, then quietly slips into something harsher and more unsettling. The film is most effective in the way it treats decline: not as a single fall from grace, but as a long accumulation of humiliation, neglect, and anger that finally hardens into rebellion.
Worth noting
Irrfan Khan gives the story its emotional center with a performance that feels lived-in rather than performed. He plays Tomar as a man who is never fully at peace in either world he inhabits, and that tension gives the film its tragic force. The result is less about triumph than about the cost of being ignored.
Bottom line
Tigmanshu Dhulia keeps the storytelling direct and unsentimental, which helps the film’s moral complexity land. It’s a strong pick for viewers who want a biopic that refuses easy uplift and instead becomes a study of dignity, rage, and the failures of the state.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Rafael "Mister Movie" Jovine (3.5★) · 170 likes
RESEÑA EN ESPAÑOL AQUI
A PASSAGE TO INDIA 3D
The sports subgenre, much like biopics in general, has a habit of sticking closely to a familiar formula. Certain details get tweaked, but the overall structure rarely changes. Paan Singh Tomar initially appears poised to follow that same path, only to take a sharp and unexpected turn in its second half, transforming its protagonist from a celebrated, seven-time gold medal–winning runner into a guerrilla rebel after life systematically fails him.
That… more
Bankaiiio (4.5★) · 92 likes
This movie introduced us to a very unique Ice-cream and Gulab Jamun combo.
Arjun Rajput (5★) · 56 likes
The most interesting aspect of this film is that it lends it's focus on the hero after his glory days. A Shakespearean tragedy of a gifted athlete who's never had it easy in life and finds himself in constant pain and exhaustion. The best scene of the film comes towards the end when after constantly running through his life he realizes he's getting close to the finishing line, that it's all gonna end soon for him. So he goes to… more The most interesting aspect of this film is that it lends it's focus on the hero after his glory days. A Shakespearean tragedy of a gifted athlete who's never had it easy in life and finds himself in constant pain and exhaustion. The best scene of the film comes towards the end when after constantly running through his life he realizes he's getting close to the finishing line, that it's all gonna end soon for him. So he goes to… more
Irfan Khan was such a good actor. The style of his acting is rare, slow, and effective. One of my favorite actors now.
*
Based on the true story of an outlaw, the outlaw of Gwalior. I've heard stories about bandits in Chambal from my parents since my childhood, so this film feels very close to me.