Senna - a review

May 1, 1994. I remember that day so clearly. I was 12, at a summer camp in Madras. I was busy adding finishing touches to an oil painting when one of the guys rushed into the room announcing that Ayrton Senna had suffered a terrible accident. Senna who? I had no clue who he was. Schumacher, Damon Hill and Nigel Mansel were the only names in Formula One I recognised. Nevertheless, I headed to the TV room and saw the wreckage at Imola (San Marino), the Brazilian driver being airlifted from the track.

Later that evening, everyone’s worst fears came true. The accident was fatal. BBC showed images of grief in Sao Paulo. Senna’s parents wept. There were no cheers for Schumacher when he stood on the podium. I wasn’t going to forget the name thereafter. Senna’s story had to be told, and the documentary Senna has done justice to that, 17 years after his death.

Senna isn’t necessarily tailored to the F1 fan. The challenge facing director Asif Kapadia and writer Manish Pandey was to make it appealing to people who don’t follow the sport or haven’t heard of Ayrton Senna. Kapadia, in a recent interview, said he was a sports fan, but not a fervent follower of F1. Interestingly, that may have been a saving grace while making the film because his lack of affiliation to any racing team made it more balanced and unbiased.

The film is more than just a chronological look at Senna’s career. It’s primarily about the man behind the helmet. Senna had several qualities that made him such a compelling personality – passionate, feverishly patriotic, religious, articulate, suave, controversial, competitive, emotional, compassionate - the list goes on.

Nothing sells like controversy (after sex of course), so the bulk of the film focuses on his complicated relationship with Frenchman Alain Prost. Their ‘stormy marriage’ arose out of a strong respect for each other. Handshakes, verbal volleys, uneasy compromises – they had it all. For someone like me, who doesn’t follow F1, this subject was indeed fascinating. On the contrary, a fan may have a different view on its portrayal.

Then there’s the simmering tension between Senna and Jean-Marie Balestre, the FIA president. Balestre was very friendly with his countryman Prost and it’s believed that Senna was put off by this. Senna and Balestre didn’t always see eye to eye on rules and playing conditions. There’s the famous scene where a peeved Senna storms out of a meeting, at the height of his rivalry with Prost.

Kapadia had a wealth of precious archival footage at his disposal, including that of holiday pictures sourced from Senna’s family. The challenge was to put it together and the film scores thanks to its slick editing. Significantly, Kapadia opted not to adopt the classic documentary style with face-to-face interviews and narratives. Instead, the interview excerpts run in the background and complement the pictures, rather than driving it. It’s almost like a first-person’s account of Senna’s life. Senna’s soundbites and insightful views on topics such as religion, Prost, poverty in Brazil etc enhance the film.

The film also doesn’t delve deep into his accident and what caused it. That would have taken the character away from the film. Senna appeared troubled before the race. A day earlier, Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger died while qualifying. The day before, Rubens Barrichello had a close call himself. These incidents shook him. In that air of morbidity, a less than peaceful Senna got into his car. They say he had a premonition about his death. We will never know.

Senna’s best quote was saved for the end. It flashes back to an interview where he was asked to name his most memorable rival. His answer was intriguing. It wasn’t a household name. Instead, he goes back to his go-kart days in the late '70s and names a driver called Fullerton. Why? “Because back then racing was fun. There was no money, no politics.”

Watch the trailer here.