AN INSPIRING EXPERIENCE!
Abhay Deol’s Jungle Cry is based on an inspiring real-life story — and the experience of shooting the film was an inspiration in itself
LIPIKA VARMA
The true story of 12 underprivileged orphan children from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Odisha, who won the prestigious U14 Rugby World Cup in England, Jungle Cry, directed by Sagar Ballary, is a riveting sports drama featuring Abhay Deol, Emily Shah and Atul Kumar Abhay plays Rudraksha Jena, the Indian rugby coach. DC caught up with Abhay for a chat. Here are some excerpts from the exclusive interview
Q
When was the last time you
were in a jungle?
I live in the concrete jungle. But my house in Goa is at the edge of a forest. So I have a jungle around my house.
QRugby
is an unusual sport. What preparations did you do to play the coach?
I had to understand the rules. I’m not the one playing, I’m blowing the whistle and using a whip [laughs]. These things take practice. Apart from being the coach, Rudra is also these kids’ father and mother rolled into one. He is passionate about what he does. The kids are like his family.
QWhat was it like, working with these tribal children?
It was a wonderful experience working. I am glad we took the kids from the institute. The Kalinga institute is for the tribal kids. We were able to see how bright, intelligent and talented they are. And we were also able to see their understanding of the world I come from — the world of lights, cameras and acting. It was alien for them, but they were fascinated. I met Dr. Samanta, who founded KISS, and Rudra, and Paul Walsh, they are all selfless people who sacrificed a lot.
QWhat did you learn from these
kids?
I realised I’m so lucky to be born in a family with money and opportunities. I saw how we take all this for granted — something these kids can’t do. For them, any opportunity is for survival.
If I do one character in a film, I would like to do the complete opposite tomorrow. That’s not for the sake of competition but for evolution
QHow do you see survival in the context of the competition in the film industry?
I look at competition as a positive thing. I hope for an environment where the standard is high. It makes you be your best. You have to perform to the best of your abilities. I am not a competitive person myself. I believe there’s space for everybody. Competition does not put me off. But I get put off by people who try to outdo others. I am not here to outdo anybody. I just try to match levels then raise it up a notch, and hope the other person can go higher than me. For me it’s not a game to prove that I am better than you. It’s like saying, ‘Hey, let’s dance together and see if together we can bring out the best of ourselves.’
QBut
do you agree that you compete with yourself by always choosing roles that are a bit better than the last?
I don’t like to use the word ‘competition’ because for me, competition is to collaborate with somebody to do better than each other. I like to continuously evolve. The better way to put it is – I don’t fight change.