Songs in sports films

Director Arun Roy hopes that Messi’s coming to Kolkata will help promote sports as a movie genre
As Argentina take on Venezuela on September 2 in Salt Lake stadium — and the Messi madness reaches its peak — I can only think of the hurdles I had to face while shooting my film, “Egaro”, which documented a piece of our football history.
“Egaro” was born after knocking on countless doors for nearly four-and-a-half years.I’d done my research and was ready with the narration when I started doing the rounds of production houses. And I got the same response — “This is like “Lagaan”. Where is the hero, heroine and the songs?” I was asked. I realized that for them, commercial viability still depended on a tried-and-tested formula and a star-studded cast. Then the truth hit me. This is why Tollywood has shied away from sports films at a time when Bollywood was rolling them out — “Chak De! India”, “Striker”, “Stand By”, “Speedy Singh”.
But the hurdles only made my determination stronger. I was desperate to debut with original content. If Aamir could do it with “Lagaan”, why couldn’t I take a leaf out of history and tell it to a city that lives, breathes and basks in football? Don’t get me wrong here, I am not that much into football. In fact, lawn tennis and cricket are more my kind of sport. What appealed to me was the wonderful story of Mohun Bagan defeating East Yorkshire Regiment in 1911.
Finally, Anilabha Chatterjee, who started off as the associate coach-cum-choreographer and then turned producer, garnered funds for the project. I made the film with a fresh cast. Maybe I would gave got the stars had I wanted too. Maybe they too would have taken a shot at something different. But fact is, I wanted actors and not stars. I wanted performers not puppets. Today, other than Prosenjit Chatterjee or Mithun Chakraborty, I don’t see any star actors in the industry.
It’s time the so-called stars learn breaking the mould and take risks. Each member of my cast trained under coach Manojit Das from 6 am. They gave me six months to a year. Could any star have given me this sort of a commitment?
Thanks to “Autograph”, “Moner Manush”, “Chirodini Tumi Je Amar...” or even “Ar Ekti Premer Galpo”, Tollywood is slowly changing. I only hope and pray that Messi and his men help Kolkata realize that sports should not be limited only to the field. Why not try sports as a genre in films? There’s enough for every film-maker, guaranteed.
Sports in T-town
Dhanni Meye (1971)
A comic drama full of impossible situations surrounding a local soccer tournament. Stars Uttam Kumar-Sabitri Chatterjee with Jaya Bhaduri as the boisterous barir bou!
Mohunbaganer Meye (1976)
A die-hard Mohun Bagan fan gets married into a rival club-loving household. The film starring Utpal Dutt and Rabi Ghosh combines the best of humour and mayhem
Saheb (1981)
A serious film delving into the plight of a young footballer from a middle-class family. Tapas Paul is in the title role.
Koni (1986)
Based on a novel by Moti Nandi, this is a heart-warming film about the struggles of a swimming coach, Khidda (Soumitra Chatterjee) and his trainee, Koni
(Sriparna Banerjee).
As told to Roshni Mukherjee