When you talk about cricket films, director Venkat Prabhu’s Chennai 600028 comes to mind. The 2007 film, which centres on gully cricket, broke the conventional grammar of a sports film. If Chennai 600028 was all things fun, debutant director Tamizharasan Pachamuthu’s Lubber Pandhu is a film that will make you think, laugh, and take home a lesson or two.

For an avid fan of cricket, a well-made cricket film is like watching a match with a nail-biting finish. Watching Lubber Pandhu was just that for me. It is not just a cricket film, but an amalgamation of brilliant ideas that makes for a wholesome watch.

Lubber Pandhu revolves around two cricket legends – Gethu (Attakathi Dinesh) and Anbu (Harish Kalyan) – a batter and a bowler, respectively. While the first half relies heavily on the ego clash between the two cricketers, the second half offers a thought-provoking take on caste discrimination, what one leaves behind, girl power and much more. Add situational comedy, nostalgic yesteryear songs and some solid IPL (Indian Premiere League) references, and you get Lubber Pandhu.

Lubber Pandhu is much more than a cricket film. In it, lies strong women characters and more importantly, men who do not hold them back. Gethu aka Poomalai’s wife Yasodai (Swasika) is a headstrong woman who runs the household with little help from her husband. Yet, she never backs down. She knows how to get the job done while still being in love with Gethu. Their daughter, Durga (Sanjana Krishnamoorthy), another strong character, doesn’t demand that her partner Anbu abandon his dreams. When her mother questions Anbu’s love for her, she lets him make a statement and makes him pursue his dream.

Here’s the trailer:

On the other hand, Anbu is an ally and gives young Akhila a chance to play cricket for his team in an all-men tournament. When everyone around her looks down on her, she marks her arrival with a straight drive, proving her mettle as a cricketer.

Throughout Lubber Pandhu, we get subplots about caste discrimination in cricket. The 2014 film Jeeva, starring Vishnu Vishal, is a sports film that talked about the discrimination in the cricketing world and exposed the faulty system. 10 years later, Lubber Pandhu effectively portrays this issue and underscores the point that whether it’s an international tournament or gully cricket, caste is deeply entrenched, and it must be called out.

For all these reasons and much more, Lubber Pandhu joins the Top 5 best films of 2024.