Film on Olympian hockey players
Article posted on 13 December 2017Shaad Ali has much to be concerned about. While he is diligently and unconditionally focusing on his hockey bio-pic on Sandeep Singh, not too far away from where Shaad is shooting in Punjab, another filmmaker Rohit Jugraj is busy putting finishing touches to yet another film based on the game of hockey, this one far bigger in canvas.
Entitled Khido Khundi Jugaraj’s bi-lingual Hindi-Punjabi film will take us to the village in Punjab which has given India as many as 14 Olympian medallists. Jugaraj who has helmed 3 super hit Punjabi films Jatt James Bond, Sardaji and its sequel Sadarji 2 (with Diljit Dosanjh in the title role) says this ambitious film will shed light on a village that has done India proud. “Do you know there is a small village in Punjab … Which has given 14 Olympians to our nation? Many Olympic gold, silver, and bronze medals came from that one village for Indian hockey. Of course the heroes are forgotten now (like all good things). The village is called Sansarpur. The legend is called Khido Khundi. Khido means a ball made of torn clothes. Khundi means a curved stick. That’s how hockey was born. Ours is a story of two brothers who come back to that village and revive a team and win.”
Suddenly hockey seems to be a much-favoured sport in our films, what with Reema Kagti’s Akshay Kumar starrer Gold, Shaad Ali’s Diljit Dosanjh starrer Soorma and now Rohit Jugaraj’s Khido Khundi coming one after another. Says Rohit, “There are many hockey films being made right now in our country, we are the first one to release and the most definitive one, because ours is not about a single person or a single event. Our film is about the fierce bravado, the heroism underlining our national game. The sheer passion that has gone into making Khido Kundi is phenomenal it makes me salute every member of my team and above all every hockey player who has ever played for our country. And believe me there are many. Many of them sadly unsung and forgotten. My film makes an effort to resurrect some of these prides of the nation.”
