The fate of Iron Women of Manipur and other Indian sports documentary films

Haobam Paban Kumar's 'Iron Women of Manipur' is a tribute to weightlifting pioneers Kunjarani Devi, Anita Chanu and Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. The documentary was in the viewing room of the NFDC Film Bazaar in Goa in late November.

When Haobam Paban Kumar was filming the documentary Iron Women of Manipur, one of the aspects that amused him most was to see his subjects, women wrestlers, eat. Kumar had made another non-fiction film in 2009, Mr India, about an HIV positive bodybuilder K Pradipkumar and what stood out then was how controlled bodybuilders had to be about what they ate, to maintain their desired shapes.

The weightlifters he met, on one occasion at a canteen in the National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala, where they were training, would eat immediately after training — and in significant quantities. He remembers with a chuckle the contrast between the two fields of sport both of which involve lifting weights.

Paban Kumar’s 26-minute short film, a tribute to weightlifting pioneers Kunjarani Devi, Anita Chanu and Mirabai Chanu, who won a silver medal in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, was in the viewing room of the National Film Development Corporation’s (NFDC) Film Bazaar in Goa in late November. The viewing room is a section for films that are completed or nearly completed and are looking for distribution.

Iron Women of Manipur was one of a handful of sports documentaries, films and series at various stages of development at the Bazaar.

Director Shivam Singh Rajput’s 38-minute Ladakh 470 is about Sufiya, a runner from Ajmer, preparing for a 470km run at over 11,000 ft from Siachen base camp to the Kargil war memorial in seven days. Sujith Aradhya has made an ambitious series on the history of motor sport in India, Breaking the Barriers — India’s Race to Glory, expected to be spread over four seasons. The first season, eight episodes of 30-37 minutes each, is ready while three more have already been plotted out.

In the co-production market, for films looking for co-producers, financial assistance, location support or post-production facilities, were two more projects. Nupur Agrawal’s Downhill Kargil is about a community of ice hockey players battling challenges of migration, better opportunities in urban centres and climate change. Deyali Mukherjee’s The Village Girl Who Ran is about an ex-athlete’s journey through a patriarchal society, motherhood and dealing with gender inequality.

Sports documentaries in India do not have easy access to distribution. There are no dedicated channels for documentaries — of any kind — and film festivals remain the only refuge for filmmakers to showcase their product to a larger audience. While over-the-top (OTT) players are able to promote and exhibit international films, even those tend to favour big names. Two of the most popular documentaries on Indian OTT platforms in recent times have been Netflix and ESPN’s The Last Dance (2020), with basketballer Michael Jordan in a starring role, and this year’s Beckham about the British former footballer. Most sports documentaries in India, therefore, tend to be passion projects, getting their dues at film festivals across the world.

When Sufiya Khan or Sufiya Runner, as she calls herself, approached Roopa Barua, the producer and creative director of the film, just days before her run, the challenge was to put together a crew quickly. The filmmakers had to shoot at high altitudes, wade through permissions from the Army, who supported their film. They had to go back for interviews with army officers, recreate some of the sound in studio to get the feel of hollowness from desolate mountains. Music had to be used judiciously because Sufiya herself ran in silence, meditatively, lost in herself and the surroundings. Continuity was key, because she would start her runs in cold mornings wearing layers, which she would shed as the day progressed and temperatures rose.

“Being in Mumbai,” says Barua, who has been producing documentaries for a decade, “we have the best of labour force, for edits and sound. A lot of technicians who work on big movies moonlight for us, if they like your content and if you have a rapport with them. When it’s a documentary, they charge less. We can’t compete with the big boys. We keep the cost low and recoup from festivals.”

Sujith Aradhya, who made Breaking the Barriers under his banner Aradhya Brand Consultancy (ABC) Films International, has a more personal connect with the film. His son Yash started racing at age nine in 2012 and has won a number of national and club titles besides other awards. Aradhya senior got curious about the origins of motorsport in India, breaking it down in seasons — one on the beginnings, season two about the biggest events leading up to late 1990s-early 2000s, three about the first Indian racers, the (now discontinued) Indian Formula One Grand Prix, and the final season about the current lot of athletes.

“It’s a complete story,” he says. “Season one was expensive — it took three years from concept to today. Season two will take six months and will compensate for the first season. We are ready to go and looking for the right channel partner and a global release.”

For the old footage they couldn’t source, Aradhya used more than 200 illustrations to recreate the past. They sourced some footage of the 1960s-70s in 8mm reels, some HD level videos bought from others.

“We had to do justice to a story which is so vast. How it all start.ed, the first stages when they started racing in abandoned airstrips, formed federations... My story will change reputations and perceptions,” he says.

Paban Kumar, whose film is produced by NFDC-Films Division and shot in Patiala and Manipur, wanted to tell the story of inspirational Manipuri athletes. “This whole journey is a living example of what humans can do,” he says about this film which was made last year. “It’s about the dream that became a reality (an Olympic medal), an individual’s dream becoming that of the state.”

He says the opportunities and funding for sports documentaries are limited, and exhibition is limited to festivals. His latest is a feature film, Joseph’s Son, about a young footballer.

The vast, untapped mine of sports stories in India, therefore, remain restricted to biased hagiographies masquerading as biopics. Barua says a majority of sports documentaries shown in festivals in India don’t get a wider release, unless there are big, known names from the world of cinema associated with it.

“I kept jingoism to a minimum (in Ladakh 470),” says Barua, who has produced two other sports documentaries, Riders of the Mist and Daughters of the Polo God. “I am used to people on high adrenalin but I am not a sports adventure person. I need stories that touch me.”