Abhay Deol, who was last seen in the movie ‘Chopsticks’, will now be essaying the role of Coach Rudraksh Jena in an upcoming biopic, ‘The Jungle Cry.’ This movie is based on the life of Dr Achuyata Samanta, founder of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) which provides free accommodation, food, healthcare and education from Class-1 to post-graduation with vocal training to more than 30,000 tribal and orphan kids.
As a child, Samanta lost his father in a train accident, after which he and his mother struggled to make ends meet. He grew up to be a professor and adopted two children with his first salary and provided them education and good life. With his second salary, he went on to adopt two more kids; and later on, went ahead to start the KISS.
The film tells the story of 12 tribal kids playing football, which was noticed by Paul Walsh working in the British Commission, who then went up to Dr Samanta seeking permission to let the kids play international rugby tournament. The kids then went on to learn the game from scratch and won all the four Under-14 tournaments. Emily Shah, who is also making her debut with this film opposite Abhay, will be seen playing the role of a UK-based physiotherapist. Earlier, Emily had assisted and worked as a stunt director with Hollywood films like ‘Captain America’ and ‘Fast and Furious’.
A country where cricket is worshipped, it naturally overlooked the achievements of these young kids due to the then ongoing India-Pakistan T20 match.
‘The Jungle Cry’, which is produced by Prashant Shah and directed by Sagar Ballary, aims at creating awareness about all the discrimination the country sees on the grounds of caste and how any other sports, if not cricket, is overlooked.
The trailer of the film was launched this year at the International Cannes Festival. The second trailer would be followed by mid-September.