1. Disparate genres, parallel strokes: Panga is a sports film directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari who does well at looking into the hopes and dreams of small towns. Her first two films – Nil Batte Sanata and Bareilly Ki Barfi – were able to succeed because they were able to work within their limitations. However, Kangana’s solo-starring movies, such as Tanu Weds Manu and Queen, haven’t done so well due to the lack of depth in her roles.
2. Believable locales versus aspirational: Panga is a love story set in a countryside village while Street Dancer explores the lives of dancers in urban metropolises. As accomplished as they are, each individual person has their own unique personal story woven into the fabric of this film. With its glossy cinematography and superstar cast, it’s clear that this flashy urban drama takes more inspiration from Hollywood than its rural counterpart.
3. Natural versus cultivated: Varun Dhawan, the actor who played a dancer in Street Dancer is naturally gifted. One can tell just by watching him that he doesn’t need to try very hard at all to act convincingly as a dancer. Conversely, it is evident from just looking at her performance that Kangana needs quite a bit of practice before she can become good enough for her role of being a kabaddi player.
4. Desh bhakti element: These movies have an underlying patriotism because they were released during the celebration of Republic Day. Pakistani actor Varun Dhawan wants to dance for India and India who he is fighting against throughout the movie, but then falling in love with Pakistani actress Shraddha Kapoor. Will Veer-Zara on the Dance Floor work at the Indian Box Office? On the other hand, Panga has Kabaddi as its backbone which adds more of an indian flare to this film.
5. Hero, aur kya? …While Street Dancer had Prabhu Dheva as a mere side attraction to the central Varun-Shraddha dance face-off, Panga had it’s main cast, Jassi Gill and neena gupta playing Kabbadi-playing female hero’s unbelievably supportive husband who make breakfast for her son while wife is out romancing the village akhada. Richa Chaddha plays her part well in this film too.
So which one will it be this Republic Day? Will you watch Varun and Shraddha show off their dance moves, or do you want to see how Kangana handles herself on the kabaddi field fighting gender-related stereotypes such as those against women of a certain age who play sports?
