Where are the sports dramas in Kannada?

Sharan’s ‘Guru Shishyaru’ is a much-needed addition to a lacklustre list of sports dramas in Sandalwood. Vivek M V finds out the challenges of cracking the genre

Sudeep plays a wrestler who transforms into a successful boxer in ‘Pailwaan’.

The last one-hour of the latest Kannada film Guru Shishyaru, starring Sharan, is sure to produce a rapturous response in theatres. I witnessed the crowd applauding and cheering but not because the hero had delivered a punchline. They weren’t enjoying a chartbuster either. An underdog kho-kho team had a found a place in their heart.

The film might be struggling to find visibility among the marquee Dasara releases but those who have seen it seemed to have enjoyed the sports drama. Perhaps the most talked about sports scene in Kannada cinema, albeit for a funny reason, is the final over in S Narayan’s Chaitrada Chandrama (2008), where the protagonist pulls off the 18-run target in the final over in a hilarious manner.

Guru Shishyaru gets many things right, mainly the tournament scenes, which appear very real. Director Jadesh Kumar Hampi says he relied on research and training the boys than camera techniques to portray the matches. “We trained the actors for two sessions per day for eight months. We wrote how the games would unfold, including details about dismissals,” Jadesh tells Showtime.

The rags-to-riches theme is quite common in sports dramas. Chinnari Mutha (1993) was about an orphan child, gifted with amazing running abilities, finding the right path. In the State Award-winning Kabaddi (2009), a sack-lifting boy finds love and respect through the sport. In Guru Shishyaru, the young kho-kho team saves their village Bettadapura from being bought by a greedy landlord. The common factor in the three films is an inspiring coach, who brings out the true potential of his student/team.

‘Guru Shishyaru’, in fact, feels like a homage to Chak De India (2007), starring Shah Rukh Khan. Jadesh tries to recreate the famous speech of the coach before an important match. Just that the ‘Sattar minute’ reference is replaced by nine minutes, the duration of one innings in kho kho. A muted gesture from the coach for the winning point and his lonely emotional breakdown after the triumph reminds you of the Hindi hit.

“Chak De India is definitely an inspiration for me. The film’s shadow looms large on Guru Shishyaru. But in that film the coach is a victim, while in my story, he is a flawed individual fighting to regain his dignity,” he points out.

The Kannada film deserves praise for handling children without cringe or offensive comedy. There are lip-smacking twists during the tournament, like how the boys defeats a team that plays dirty and later overcome a biased referee. The cinematic liberty in execution notwithstanding, the sequences are relatable. “In kho kho, every second and every point matters. That makes the role of umpires very crucial. We have also heard of players purposefully injuring their opponents,” says Jadesh, who was involved in discussions with former players during the scripting period.

It’s encouraging to see a Kannada film focus on a game battling extinction. But it would have better if Guru Shishyaru had gone into the specifics of the game as not many are aware of its rules and techniques. Malayalam's Kho Kho (2021), starring a superbly natural Rajisha Vijayan, gets it right in this department.

Nothing in the Rahul Riji Nair’s directorial is stylised. As it stays closer to reality, the film has scenes about the nuances of the game organically weaved into the plot. Rajisha Vijayan sheds exaggerated emotions that are typical of Indian coaches in films. Hit by the unfairness of the sport, she is emotionally destroyed. Yet, her acting stays delightfully in check, without veering towards melodrama.

Indian films need to hold a mirror to the plight of our indigenous games. “Kho kho is physically demanding. Hence, even if players are given government jobs for their talent, they struggle to contribute to the sport for long for no fault of theirs,” says N Prakash, secretary, Karnataka Amateur Kho Kho Association. “It lacks sponsors and advertisers, who are interested in sports popular on television. This inevitably makes kho kho a rural game,” he points out.

It’s important to focus on sidelined games and get the conflict right, says director TS Nagabharana. “When I sat to write for Chinnari Mutha with HS Venkateshmurthy, we were excited about the idea of a small-town boy’s changing fortunes in a big city thanks to his talent. A sports drama isn’t a difficult genre to crack but filmmakers must know a way to promote their products,” says Nagabharana, who had planned to make a film on a cyclist.

Producers and distributors might find the genre risky. This explains why our hero in big mainstream films Pailwaan (2019) and Aryan (2014) is all-conquering and family-friendly in nature respectively. The emotionally manipulative Sachin! Tendulkar Ala (2014) is a case of a director being generic with the genre.

“It’s about deserving films getting the right support. One hit sports drama will inspire many more,” says director Tharun Kishore Sudhir, who bankrolled Guru Shishyaru. “I am not a regular producer. But Sharan is a friend and he isn’t in dearth of offers. He gave me the confidence to explore a fresh script,” says Tharun.

Guru Shishyaru is marked by consistent simplicity and it’s a film with a big heart. The sports drama definitely deserves more deafening noise in the theatres.