Sports filmmaker and author Sunil Yash Kalra can’t stop beaming with pride, after all, his sports docu-drama Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies will be screened at the first Arnold Sports Film Festival in Ohio, USA, on March 6. India’s very first 30-minute docu-drama, the film focuses on the efforts and aspirations of athletes and profiles the Indian Women’s Cricket team.
Interestingly, Arnold Schwarzenegger was amongst the celebrities who judged the entries and he will present the awards to winners.
Sunil literally ate, drank and slept on the sets while working on the film and the coffee-table book Women’s Cricket World, that has been co-authored by cricketer Anjum Chopra.
Sunil shares, “I am too excited not only because the movie has been selected (for screening), but it’s a huge honour for me to take this to the world’s biggest sports docu-drama festival. I’m hopeful that it will raise awareness for women’s cricket in the US.”
Sunil reveals that the idea germinated when in 2005 India made it to the finals of the World Cup in South Africa. “Unfortunately, no newspaper carried any information about the Cup running up to the finals. A win that day could have changed the landscape of Women’s Cricket, but sadly, that wasn’t the case. There was a huge need to talk about the achievements of women’s sports, especially women’s cricket. Hence, I came up with the idea of a book and shared it with Anjum. She agreed and the book was completed with her help and participation,” he adds.
When launched here, Sunil and his film was well-supported by Rani Mukerji and screenplay writer Jaideep Sahni. “Poor Cousins… has real life situations. It depicts the struggles and endless efforts of the Indian Women Cricket team. The protagonists of the film, Anjum Chopra and Jhulan Goswami, brilliantly portray the trajectory of aspiring and courageous women cricketers who despite all odds taste success when they play at Lords, the Mecca of cricket, alongside men.”
The ultimate victory for Sunil would be to showcase the film on Indian soil.
“No doubt, the Arnold Sports Film Festival is the icing, but the real cake would be to make it available on DTH platform,” he adds.