The Unmaking of Prithipal Singh: Olympic Champion, Hockey Legend

A new film on the hockey legend Prithipal Singh may not be a ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ but it doesn’t try to be one either

A still from PrithipalSingh...a story

A three time Olympic champion shot dead by his own students. There was enough drama in that line for Sundeep Misra to plunge into the mission of making a biopic on Prithipal Singh. But the team behind Prithipal Singh...a story, was certain they wanted to keep the film real. So ‘cinematic’ liberties like the ones Bhaag Milkha Bhaag took, by making Milkha Singh jive to Ghul Mil Ghul Mil Launda in Australia, were totally out of question.

With no big stars and a really tight budget, Prithipal Singh...a story had a limited release last week and the makers are happy that the film is likely to break even, thanks to satellite rights, interest from overseas and a different approach to marketing, that is likely to get over 10,000 kids from schools across Punjab into cinemas to watch the film. “Just relying on theatres to generate business is not the path for a film that is without stars but not without a story. And you don’t need stars to tell a story”, says Misra.

I figured the best way to learn about the film on Prithipal Singh would be from the film’s Executive Producer, Misra himself. The man is a hockey junkie besides being the Founding Editor-in-Chief of Sports Illustrated India with over two decades of experience as a sports journalist behind him. Here’s a behind-the-scenes peek at Prithipal Singh...a story, by Sundeep Misra:

A still from Prithipal Singh... a story

In a way it was the unmaking of Prithipal Singh…a story. Trying to understand the person – Prithipal Singh – through a bunch of yellowed, thumbed pages in our ‘forgotten’ chapters of history was itself Olympian. Enter a library and all you get are brittle, crackling pages of newsprint. “Careful!” says the librarian.

When you tell an assembled motley bunch of crew members that the film, a biopic is about a man called Prithipal Singh, there is a pause; seemingly endless. Then someone pipes up and says, “Freedom fighter?” You say, “No, hockey player.” One actually needed a tea break then. Thumbs and fingers were furiously googling Prithipal Singh.

Poster of Prithipal Singh...a story

Two things stood out in the research of the story — he was principled and cared two hoots about authority — was a common refrain. It became the most intriguing part of Prithipal’s personality. It also spurred the film. In more ways than one, you got out of the trap of it just being the story of an Olympic champion. ‘Principled’ in a way is taken as a ‘weakness’ in our kothi-and-gaddi driven society. Prithipal, like all of us, made choices. And our choices have consequences. His did too.

Bhaag Milkha Bhaag had been released. Not many were happy that one of the conditions to do this film — Prithipal Singh…a story — was founded on a stance that was anti-culture in Hindi Cinema; the hero will not sing nor show his abs. That was enough to destroy morale. The revolt came from the lead actor, our Prithipal Singh — Vikas Kumar. “No gym? No abs? No shoulders? But will I look like a player.” A stack of pictures of the 1960, 64’ and 68’ Olympic Games taken from of the net fell on his lap. “But Farhan has?” The question trailed off like jet smoke in a cloudless sky.

A still from Prithipal Singh... a story

It was a new crew; 90 per cent doing their first film. Not many egos though some grew during that period.

Two great characters — Prithipal Singh vs Ashwini Kumar (the Punjab Police chief, Director-General, BSF and also the Indian Hockey Federation boss) needed to be able to size up each other. A clash between an erstwhile player and a man who believed ‘he’ made the Indian team not the players. Scenes were written in. On scraps of paper and inserted. Fictionalisation is inevitable but simplicity was the byword.

Babita Puri, the director, watches a film a day. But this was frustrating. While the associates and assistants went home at pack-up, a group of three sat and saw the takes. Simplicity wasn’t that simple. The script was re-read and subtle changes made. Not all agreed. But then when was film-making a democratic process. Budgets were tight, tight enough to be bordering on incredulity.

A still from Prithipal Singh... a story

To tell a good story and keep it true, to an extent, is like stretching the rubber-band and hoping it won’t break. You have 90 minutes to say it. And sometimes, things don’t need to be said. They are understood. There has to be fastidiousness when making a bio-pic.

The 1964 Tokyo Olympics hockey final wasn’t a colour telecast. It is now a black & white portion in the film. But things do slip past. Mohinder Lal, the scorer in the 64’ final against Pakistan never wore a stud in his ear. Mohinder Lal in Prithipal Singh…a story does. Archival footage in the film was used so the shots could be blown up to maximum graininess. 

The ideological battle was between a great hockey player and the normal human being when not with a hockey stick. Greatness dazzles. But to break down the greatness and show an ordinary man the way an ordinary man is, like you and me enmeshed in the day-to-day struggles where his authority and superiority is challenged is complex to show on screen.

In a way, one needs to show his anger but keep the drama going. In the scene before the interval, Prithipal is sitting with his friend Shingara explaining his struggles in the Indian team. Suddenly Prithipal gets up and leaves. Shingara calls after him, “Paaji, aapki hockey chuut gayi.” Prithipal replies, “Chhut nahi gayi, maine hockey chhod di.” It’s theatrical drama. But necessary.

Even though Prithipal’s character is not one-dimensional, it does appear like that. There is always an under-current of tension, the unwillingness to bend, it all comes through in the steeliness in Vikas’ performance. In certain scenes, a requirement for arrogance seeps through, almost bordering on the reckless for the character. But research did show that Prithipal didn’t care for authority. He was after all an Olympic Champion. In a reply to the Vice-Chancellor who says, “Because I am the Vice-Chancellor of this university.” Prithipal’s reply is simple but it sums up his character, “And I am the Olympic champion of this country.”

The challenges were many; especially in the research part. We were dealing with a three-time Olympic champion. Films have been made on less. But not many spoke about him. Suddenly, he was taboo. The university in which he was the sports director, the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, wanted to understand what the film was about. They spoke but in hushed tones; some outside the university and some sitting in cars, hurriedly telling you bits and pieces of the story.

History is stranger than fiction. When Ashwini Kumar was asked why two captains in the 1968 Mexico Olympics hockey team, his reply was and this is when he wasn’t well and I believe not able to remember much, “A film on Prithipal Singh! Well, there were 15 other players also in the team.”

(Sundeep Misra is the executive producer of the film Prithipal Singh...a story. His book on Prithipal Singh is scheduled to be released early next year)

(In arrangement with The Tribune)