Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket is a documentary film that dives deeper into one of the biggest match-fixing scandals in Indian cricket. The film is streaming on Netflix.
Story
Starting in 1997, this documentary chronicles the story of a few curious journalists who asked the right questions and eventually uncovered a blight in the reputation of the game of cricket.
With betting being illegal in India, bookies had to come up with creative ways to make their money and they showed a true brash spirit by controlling the players playing in the matches themselves to fix the results in their favor.
As the controversy unfurled, the CBI was brought in and their investigation brought several cricketers into the spotlight for selling their honor and tarnishing their opportunity to play for their country on the global stage.
From the journalists behind Tehelka to the various CBI officers who led the investigation, everyone’s perspective is portrayed in this expose.
Positives
The upside to interviewing accomplished journalists is that they already have a way with words and their accounts in the film are by far the most interesting to listen to. They perfectly describe their processes and how things progressed back then.
The film borrows a lot of nostalgic elements like video tapes and footage of old cricket matches as well as archive footage of Hansie Cronje from back then to set the tone that symbolizes the events that took place.
Negatives
The film lacks urgency and moves at a casual pace that underserves the gravity of the scandal. While it may be long forgotten now, it was still a major revelation back then that involved some of the biggest names in cricket and that severity is undersold here.
Verdict
Caught Out: Crime. Corruption. Cricket is a breezy documentary that doesn’t necessarily do anything extraordinary but it does add a little more context to a scandal that rocked the country many years ago. Fans of the sport will certainly find it mildly interesting and worth a single watch.
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