Mixed martial arts have a bright future in India as more and more people are now taking up the sport. Von Saxena’s documentary creates awareness about the game. Samiksha Raj reports
Mixed martial arts, popularly known as MMA, has finally started finding its feet as an alternative sport, in our cricket-crazy country of over 100 billion people. It has had a promising arrival with initiatives such as the Super Fight league (SFl) and Full Contact Championship (FCC), managing to grab quite a few eyeballs. It is well-known that various forms of media are crucial to the success of any fledgling enterprise. Von Brian Saxena is a documentary filmmaker who has come up with a well-researched documentary titled MMA India: Fighting for a Dream. It captures the sport, right from its inception to the attention that it is getting in India at present. It also highlights many trials and tribulations of prospective fighters across India.
At a special screening of the documentary at Indian Habitat Center, Von opened up on the motivation behind this directorial venture. “My brother used to get stuff related to UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) — the big thing among youngsters of our age, just like WWF and WWE. I was really fascinated with those and started following UFC and mixed martial arts. Initially I found it very boring but over the years, I’ve become a big fan of the sport,” said Von.
The documentary is brilliantly woven to edutain (read educate and entertain) the audience with the scope and depth of the emerging MMA revolution in India; how the world’s fastest growing sport is rapidly spreading its branches in the country — from showering recognition on the players who come from impoverished households and nondescript locations to luring young fans who feel that the sport aids their concentration and helps them stay physically fit. It also takes a jibe at the Bollywood actors — the likes of Salman Khan who underwent major physical transformation from being wiry in Saajan (1991) to ultra-muscular in Dabangg (2010) and many others. But the actors are not the real fighters. The ‘real’ fighters are the ones who are ready to endure ‘real’ pain, are able to land ‘real’ powerful punches and are unfazed by macabre happenings all around, traits that are akin to an MMA expert who takes a lot of pride while competing in an event like SFl.
The documentary includes conversations with popular names associated with the sport in India — Daniel Isaac, CEO, SFl and one of the pioneers of MMA in India, two-time Olympic medallist, wrestler Sushil Kumar, Alan ‘the Bull’ Fernandes (first Indian MMA expert to represent India overseas), SFl heartthrob Jason Solomon, young MMA fighters Sandeep Yadav, Bharat Khandare, Pawan Maan and also their women counterparts, Priyanka Jeet Toshi, lipika Uniyal, to name a few.
Von’s film also depicts how MMA in India could never have seen the light of the day in the face of an American onslaught. USA being the pioneer in this sport wanted world domination in MMA as well and since rural Indian had a rich tradition of mud wrestlers, there was great potential here which caught the eye of the Americans who started planning to rope in Indians for the MMA championships in their country. “India needed SFl like initiatives to help prosper the sport in the country and with an enthusiastic brigade of MMA fighters in the nation, such tournaments should continue. I wanted the world to notice this through my documentary. I further plan to share 10-15 minute videos on YouTube dedicated to MMA as sequels to this documentary,” says Von.
The documentary is also an eye-opener for the audience who is swayed by the decoy performances in shows like WWE & WWF, where the idea is to provide entertainment. So what, if the stunts and action sequences are cleverly enacted in the ring or the cage, it is the viewing public that must feel a high, watching these scripted WWE and WWF fights. SFl and FCC, which profess MMA skills, think about the participant as much as they think about the public. The contestants are given just one instruction — use your mind and physique in unison to outwit, outdo and finish off your opponent; visual appeal for the audience will surely come as a by-product, when people will realise that there is no scope to stage manage performances. The denouement to Von’s film is full of optimism wherein he has captured voices from the hinterland — emerging MMA stars, who speak of serving the poor, serving their people, training youngsters in MMA — a food for thought for each one among our billion cricket enthusiasts who need to open their eyes to an arena much smaller than 22 yards but bigger in terms of the overall impact.