Hockey to rugby, Odisha’s sporty tribals on screen
BHUBANESWAR: Thanks to the exploits of players from tribal belt like former India hockey captain Dilip Tirkey and the U-14 World Cup-winning rugby team, sports has become a vehicle of socio-economic and social uplift in Odisha.
And the heartening story from the hinterland will add to India’s spate of sports biopics. Next year, a Tirkey biopic in the Odia language and a Bollywood film based on rugby are slated to be released.
It was over a decade ago that 12 boys from Odisha’s tribal belt went on to rule the world in a lesser known sport in the country. Their robust physique, hardships and bias faced coming from a backward region where development is still a major issue. The boys had stepped out of Odisha before that and were the first — still the only ones — from their villages to travel by air. The flight to London changed their lives.
JUNGLE CRY
Based on the true story of the 2007 triumph — from tribal kids having their first brush with the sport to landing in an entirely different world to making the country proud — a Bollywood movie, Jungle Cry, starring Abhay Deol is set for release next summer.
The film directed by Sagar Ballary is in the last phase of its shooting in London. Shooting in India was done at the institute instrumental in building the team, Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS), Bhubaneswar — a free residential educational institute for tribals run by Achyuta Samanta — in October and November.
“In 2006, we had a demonstration of rugby at KISS. Since then rugby is played at our institute. In January 2007, we were told the U-14 World Cup was going to take place in London in October. At that time hardly any U-14 kid played the sport in country, so we got the responsibility to prepare the team from scratch. The rest, as they say, is history,” says coach Rudrakesh, whose role is portrayed by Abhay Deol. He is now assistant director of sports at KISS.
Raj Kishor Murmu, captain of that squad, who is now a rugby coach at KISS, is assisting Ballary in London, so help the film stick to reality. “The London triumph changed our lives forever. Seven of us are into coaching, one has joined the army and is playing for the Services team, and the other four are doing higher studies,” says Vikas Chander Murmu, vice-captain of that 2007 squad.
“I still remember — when we reached London, it was a different world for us. We had never even imagined. Six of us knew very basic English and the rest could only speak Odia or our tribal language. So, to make us feel comfortable in London, Rudrakesh sir made groups — an English speaking person would accompany the Odia speaking guy,” recalls Gourang Jamuda.
Tirkey is Odisha’s biggest sporting icon and the biopic will seal it on the screen.