Films that bring South Asian families together on the tweed or leather sofas in the TV room, where the crunching sounds of Bombay mix and Rubicon mango cans click, add to the cinematic experience of rooting for a South Asian team in a feel-good sports film.
Heartfelt films that have been based or loosely based on true stories, that have previously been a hit with Bollywood film fanatics in the UK include ‘Patiala House’, ‘Dangal’ and ‘Bend it like Beckham’.
So here comes another timely tale and incredibly true story of 12 orphaned boys from India who went on to become the roaring “Jungle Cats”, winning the under-14 Rugby World Cup Championship in Wales in 2007.
From playing Kabaddi on the streets to the tribal dancing in the village, the visual art in this film’s depiction of authentic Indian culture, village living and showcasing the history and tribalism in the Eastern State of India, remains in its truest form.
The film is set to be released this week and coincides with the Yorkshire Rugby game set to take place next week between the British Asian Rugby Association and colostomy charity being held in Batley.
Kicking off the release of Jungle Cry was the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Orissa, India, where 4,000 children performed the haka dance as part of the launch.
Partly filmed in Odisha, formerly ‘Orissa’, an eastern Indian state on the Bay of Bengal, the film promotes education, and sports and helps eradicate poverty, with the boys coming from predominantly poverty-stricken and underprivileged villages in India.
Asian Sunday spoke to the actress and daughter of Prashant Shah, who was also the Executive Producer of the film.
On working on the film, the actress said she would best describe the film using these three words “Passion, determination and hunger”.
Emily Shah, who is making her debut in Bollywood with this film says she took on this role to play physiotherapist ‘Roshni Thakkar, whom she had written into the script.
“The character was meant to represent light and effervescent at the end of the tunnel, for these boys have had so much darkness in their life.
“Whenever I hear of stories of unsung heroes it just makes me more motivated and driven as an artist to want to tell that story and want to be a part of that production in every way shape or form,” says Shah.
When asked why she chose this film to make her debut in the Hindi film industry, the 27-year-old actress says she didn’t want to “get lost in the narrative of “The ‘Masala Girl’.
“The one that has to always be the hot girl, showing a little bit of skin, which then on you just get categorised and cast as, so working on this film has helped define the trajectory of my career in Bollywood.
“When you create art like this, that affects so many people’s lives and gives them an opportunity that they may have never had before because you created that specific art, that is something that is meaningful to me and makes me want to continue to do projects like this,” she told Asian Sunday in an interview.
From being a British Diplomat to living a simple desi life in Calcutta, Paul Walsh, the real-life coach for the Jungle Crows, as they are now known, talks to Asian Sunday about his role in the film and being submerged in desi culture.
“I eat all the food here and watch some of the Bollywood blockbusters with subtitles on Netflix, like I recently watched Pushpa, which has gone viral because David Warner did the dance from there and that has become so popular, all the kids are doing it here.”
Walsh who was initially posted to Calcutta as a British Diplomat, says when he first approached the school with his proposal “They thought that I was a bit mad, but they took a leap of faith in me”, as he continues to teach and offer support at the Kalinga Institute 20 years on.
The character of Walsh played by Stewart Wright in the film experienced slight racism and disrespect from the young boys during training, who referred to him as “gora pakora” and terrorised him by leaving crickets in his room and sabotaging the equipment during practice.
Although Walsh told Asian Sunday in an interview that this was dramatised to create tension and entertainment for the film.
“All the kids that I have worked with, are always completely respectful regardless of their background or upbringing, even the toughest kids that can be quite brutal, have always been lovely to me.”
Jungle Cry is produced by Prashant Shah, directed by Sagar Ballary and stars Abhay Deol, Emily Shah, Atul Kumar, Stewart Wright and Julian Lewis Jones.
The film is being released in the UK on 20 June and by Lionsgate Play in India and the subcontinent in June.
