Even without a soccer setting, Sesham Mike-il Fathima is a drama difficult to categorize. It’s not really a sports film but more about female empowerment as protagonist Fathima pursues her goal of becoming a match commentator in the IFL Indian Football League. The title translates as “Up next, Fathima on the mic (microphone)”.
The Story
The story begins with Fathima, a little girl who never stops talking, likes to tell stories, and plays football with her older brother Asif and his friends. When she grows into an attractive, intelligent woman, she still embodies her nickname of “Chatterbox”. Because Fathima (Kalyani Priyadarshan) cannot stop talking, she even narrates the play while watching football on TV. Personally, I would find that very annoying!
But brother Asif (Aneesh Menon) is running a Sevens tournament, and when the commentator bails out, he convinces Fathima that she has the skill to announce their games. Her metaphorical but flowery and enthusiastic narration is a hit inside the stadium, and she becomes a local celebrity in Malappuram, which is in the Indian state of Kerala.
However, Fathima’s family is conservative Muslim. She hides her vocation from her father Muneer (Sudheesh), who, under pressure from his cousin, becomes anxious to marry her off. Although, he allows her to go to the big city for a several month internship in a biochemistry lab. While there, she rooms with Ramya (Femina George), a fellow independent female from Malappuram. Ramya helps Fathima pursue every possible lead to become the first female commentator in the IFL.
One of the men she must convince tries to seduce her, but Fathima is well-prepared to protect herself from his inappropriate advances.
Fathima also becomes friends with footballer Solomon Margaret (Shaheen Siddique), who helps her pursue leads and also gives her a job in his academy. He knows all the top guys in the Kerala Football Federation. They falsely set him up for drug use so that he is suspended from playing football.
Because the top of the Federation is so corrupt, Fathima goes through many failed attempts to get an audition, and even Solomon’s victimhood is extended. On top of that, the males of Fathima’s family kidnap her to force her into an arranged marriage.
When things are at their worst, it is a children’s performance narrating a Tom and Jerry soccer scene that gets Fathima a chance to audition for her dream job.
In Conclusion
Like many of the Indian soccer movies I have watched, this film from first-time Writer-Director Manu C. Kumar is long, convoluted, and a little far-fetched. It also has very little soccer in it, although many scenes captured the stadium environment and atmosphere. It appears that Sevens uses clay pitches and that there are only men in the stands. The film Sudani from Nigeria was also filmed in Malappuram.
In the back of my mind during the film I wondered, would male Indian fans really enjoy the commentating that Fathima produces? She is a female version of former ESPN color commentator Tommy Smyth, who tires me out.
But Kalyani Priyadarshan‘s performance as Fathima is what kept my attention. She enthusiastically portrays a woman who steadfastly pursues what she wants despite industry and familial sexism. She is quite believable even if her dream seems far-fetched. I guess that’s the point — why limit your dreams. You can also learn more about Kalyani Priyadarshan on wikipedia and instagram.
All the other performances are excellent as well.
In the film, there were 3 little tidbits of information that I did not know. In her audition, Fathima explains why the soccer ball was made black and white for the WC 1986TV broadcast, and the science behind Roberto Carlos’ banana kick. Also, I was surprised to see that a Tom and Jerry cartoon had soccer in it, but maybe that is a more recent edition.
7 Soccer Movie Mom Rating = 7
Resources:
- Released: 2023-11-10 (India)
- The title ശേഷം മൈക്കിൽ ഫാത്തിമ (Sesham Mike-il Fathima) translates as “Up next, Fathima on the mic (microphone)”
- The title is also spelled Sesham Mikeil Fathima
- In Malayalam with English sub-titles
- 2 hours 15 mins
- I watched this on Netflix
- IMDB
- WIKI
- Writer/Director: Manu C. Kumar
- Stars: Kalyani Priyadarshan (as Fathima) , Shaheen Siddique (as Solomon Margaret)
- Watch the Trailer
