Selection Day is the new Indian Netflix Original series following in the success of Sacred Games and Ghoul. It is based on the Prize-winning novel of the same name by Aravind Adiga.
Selection Day is a coming-of-age story set in Mumbai following two brothers who uncover a world of cricket and corruption. The series premiered on Netflix on December 28. Selection Day is a six-episode series.
The series opens in a small village of Madhya Pradesh. Even before we learn their names, we know their father Mohan calls them Champion No 1 and Champion No.
Manjunath (Mohammad Samad) wishes to become a scientist someday and Radha (Yash Dholye) loves cricket, their future is solely decided by their over ambitious and pushy father Mohan (Rajesh Tailing), whose only dream is to make their sons the best batsman in the world.
Within a few minutes, the story is shifted from a village to the city of Mumbai, wherein they go door to door of every top cricket academy but face rejections. Their life changes when celebrated coach Tommy sir (Mahesh Manjrekar), spots the two boys playing where Sachin started his career ‘Shivaji Park’, Tommy sir takes them under his wing and gets them enrolled into the Ali Weinberg Academy, where they get scholarship and cricket training. Manju’s dislike for cricket forms the base of Selection Day, he’s also troubled by his mother’s absence as she’s disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
Akshay Oberoi who plays a greedy businessman Anand Mehta eyes to take over the cricket ground of the school. Another puzzling decision is the inclusion of a physical illustration of Lord Subramanya, played by Shiv Pandit dressed like a modern-day hippie, whose character looks unwanted, but holds importance for Manju as he appears before Manju every time he faces a challenge on the cricket ground and praises him as his diety.
Mohammad Samad is perfect casting for the character, Rajesh Tailang is spot on as the merciless father and Ratna Pathak’s talent is somewhat wasted as the school principal, a character created just to fill in the lack of women in the book and add an eminent name to the cast.
After the much hype even before the release of the show, the series couldn’t hold the right attention it deserves and we as an audience are left with no choice but to just go with the flow.
The Indian web series are on the rise but Selection Day doesn’t look like it is adding anything great to the lineup. Selection Day though doesn’t please with narrations in many situations but can be enjoyed for the performances of the actors.
