Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap hits out at current state of sports in India

Anurag Kashyap
Anurag Kashyap

What's the story

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has said that it is ironic that India has churned out so many sports movies, yet the athletes have not given as many medals. He wasn't blaming the athletes for the lack of silverware, but he laid the blame on the system. Kashyap said that the situation was indeed sad.

In case you didn't know

Kashyap's upcoming film is titled 'Mukkabaaz'. The film depicts the story of an Uttar Pradesh boxer, Shravan Singh, who falls in love with a Brahmin girl. Things take a turn when he lands a punch to the head of the boxing federation and politician-gangster, Bhagwan Das. the movie stars Vineet Kumar Singh in the lead role and the ever talented Jimmy Shergill portrays Bhagwan Das.

The heart of the matter

Kashyap took a dig at the current state of sports in the country, saying, “We have more sports movies than medals. The film comes from that sad situation. In population, we are second after China, but in the medal tally we always lag behind. Why is it happening, why can’t we produce sportsmen?"

Kashyap wasn't happy about the fact that the country is so busy celebrating minor victories that the larger picture gets lost. He continued saying the nation wildly celebrates little victories and are so engrossed in it that we don’t understand that the person who won that may not even qualify the next time.

What next?

Kashyap's Mukkabaaz is expected to release on 12th January 2018. He also has another project by the name of Bhavesh Joshi which will release soon.

Sportskeeda's take

Not taking anything away from the sportspersons, but Kashyap does have a point. If India invested in better sports infrastructure and actively supported sports in India, the country would be far more competitive.