Cricketing god with feet of clay | Why I will not watch Sachin: A Billion Dreams

Sachin Tendulkar’s biopic ‘Sachin A Billion Dreams’ released last Friday and though I was emotionally overwhelmed watching his retirement speech a few years ago, I didn’t feel compelled to go watch the docu-movie in theaters.

Let me confess at the outset that I am a huge fan of Sachin Tendulkar and can go on and on watching his blistering back to back knocks against Australia in Sharjah, his googly that bowled Moin Khan and tilted the match decisively in India’s favour, his assault against Shoaib Akhtar and Waqar Younis in 2003 World Cup, his last over against South Africa that got India to the final of Hero Cup and oh those backfoot punches…

But this Cricketing God has feet of clay and he has shown them how.

Like when the Indian cricket team playing under him wore black arm bands after Sachin’s brand manager Mark Mascarenhas died in a tragic accident. Mark was a great marketing man and Sachin owes his early money that came through endorsements with Mark’s efforts. One can even accept that Mark was more like a mentor for Sachin. But why should the team wear the black band in mourning for a man who was only handling a player, not the team?

Like when he wanted the tax to be waived on the Ferrari that was ‘gifted’ to him. Sachin was already earning in crores and he could very well have afforded the tax on the gift for which he hadn’t paid. True, Sachin has given us immense joy and deserved every penny and more he earns through his endorsements, but what stopped the great master from paying tax on the same money/gifts? Like when he wanted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to grant him certain concessions as he built his dream bungalow in Bandra. Yes, he is Mumbai’s favourite son. But why seek bending of rules when you are building your pad here? Why not be the rule-abiding citizen just as he was the great ambassador of the game on the cricket field?

Sachin off the field, is indeed a mystery. One has heard enough legends of the guy- like how he attended a wedding of the daughter of a servant at his Lonavla bungalow only because he had requested Sachin, or how he would patiently wait at the queue every time he goes visiting his sister in Pune or how he ensures a lot of charity work without making too much of a fuss. But when it comes to money, the Middle Class Marathi Maanus in Sachin comes to the fore. And it is indeed puzzling. Ad man Prahlad Kakkar, who once was a neighbour to Sachin, had said this famously- Sachin should not do toothpaste ads (he was doing Colgate Total ad then), it lowers his image. But that didn’t deter Sachin, the moneymaker.

In one of his heartfelt interviews, when Govinda was still a star and spoke sense, Govinda had recalled how he asked his brother Kirti Kumar to buy 100 auto rickshwas as soon as his first film became a hit. "Bhaai, kal ka kya bharosa? Fatafat auto kharid daalte hain, future ekdum set," Govinda told his brother as he knew film career was dicey and may not last long. But in Sachin's case his career wasn't under threat ever. And yet he behaved like Govinda and that's sad.

I want to remember Sachin as the Cricketing God. I don’t want to see his feet of clay. I don’t want to see anything else other than his immensely satisfying cricketing career that blossomed and ended in my lifetime.