Story of Kolkata rugby club’s struggle and victory recaptured in ‘Jungle Cry’

KOLKATA: If one walks down Chowringhee on any afternoon, one is sure to spot a group of children playing rugby on a ground next to an Instagram famous bougainvillea tree. Once a derelict plot with concrete castings left over from the north-south metro construction that used to turn into a hub of anti-socials after dark, the place was reclaimed and cleared up by TOI with help from the Army.The result was a home ground for thousands of rugby playing children.
The story of the Maidan’s rugby field goes back to 2004 and when a group of friends decided to start a rugby club in Kolkata.

They called that club the Jungle Crows and the latest episode of that story is the movie ‘Jungle Cry’, now available on OTT after its theatrical release in the US and the UK. It was previewed at a private screening in Kolkata by the British deputy high commission and Australian consulate.
‘Jungle Cry’ tells the story of 12 children from the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) in Bhubaneswar who in 2007 travelled to London and won the Tour Aid Nations Cup. “It is a true story and the genesis of the victory goes back to Kolkata’s muddy Maidan,” says former British diplomat Paul Walsh who started Jungle Crows and then dared to take a rag-tag team of scrawny young boys who were new to the sport to compete in a rugby championship.
“The challenge was to organise a group of 13-year-olds who had never seen a rugby ball into a championship winning team. Stepping up to the task were Crows coaches Sanjay and Sailen. They had faith in the idea and knew they could find some winning athletes among the tribal students of KISS,” recounted Walsh.
Rajdeep Saha, the player who had scored the winning try in the tournament and also acted in the film, says both experiences were fascinating. “It was like winning the tournament all over again,” he said.
Back to the Maidan in 2018, the film producers visited Kolkata to cast players. Nine out of the 13 players who had played in the tournament were selected from the Jungle Crows and cast with Abhay Deol, who played KISS coach Rudrakesh. In the movie, British actor Stewart Wright plays Paul Walsh.
‘Jungle Cry’ is a family drama. But in many ways, what really happened to all those that were part of this story is more amazing. Paul still yells at rugby players on the Maidan. Sailen rides his own stable of horses and runs his sports development project for tribal youth. Sanjay coaches his home team Future Hope and will this week coach the West Bengal team. KISS has become an institute of 30,000 children. Teacher Rudra is organising and managing all the children to achieve in sports, winning laurels for the school, state and country.