Why Kabaddi is cool

For once, actors won't masquerade as sports heroes. Narendra Babu's film Kabaddi, scheduled for release this Friday, features real-life champs B C Ramesh, Naveen and Venkatesh

Why Kabaddi is cool

For once, actors won't masquerade as sports heroes. Narendra Babu's film Kabaddi, scheduled for release this Friday, features real-life champs B C Ramesh, Naveen and Venkatesh

Will Kabaddi be able to recreate the magic of Lagaan or Chake De India? Director Narendra Babu, whose Kannada film on the desi sport, releases in Bangalore on July 3 thinks so. "We have got footage of kabaddi matches just like how footage of football matches have been used in films like Escape to Victory," he says.

The real thing

For once, actors won't masquerade as sports heroes. Kabaddi features real-life champs B C Ramesh, Naveen and Venkatesh. "Eight years ago I had discussed the idea of a film on kabaddi with Ramesh. Frankly, I am getting quite sick of underworld-based movies. Kabaddi should come like a breath of fresh air," he remarks.

Winning is key: Director Narendra Babu has pinned his hopes on Kabaddi, and is taking on the distribution of the film with a group of friends

Arjuna award winner B C Ramesh describes the film as the fulfillment of a promise made 10 years ago to the Rajkumar Fans Association, when he had offered to act for free in a film made on the sport.

Urban appeal?

Will Kabaddi appeal to urban audiences? "It's hard to find a more energetic sport than kabaddi. Though cricket has glamour, kabaddi is popular in small towns as well as big cities. I've intentionally used the tagline, Kannadadashte Anivarya ("as important as Kannada") in the film because kabaddi is a sport that needs to be preserved and nurtured," he adds. Such lofty goals apart, the filmmaker hopes to appeal to movie buffs with a love story thrown in for good measure.

Rumours of financial trouble delaying the release of the film have been doing the rounds, but Narendra Babu is quick to react, "We u2013 a group of friends are distributing the film in 35 centres in the state, as finding distributors for a film like Kabaddi is a problem."

The climax was shot at Mandya with over 30,000 people watching a real kabbaddi match. "With the film, I expect kabbaddi to become a rich kid's game," he says. But I catch sight of him crossing his fingers as I leave.