Abhishek Bachchan on his enthusiasm for kabaddi
The intricacies of the sport were unknown to him but now Abhishek Bachch
Explaining how he got hooked to the sport, the lanky actor, who was in the Capital recently, says, “Three years back, Charu (Sharma) came to me and said, ‘I know you’re a huge sports fan, you love basketball and football. Have you ever thought of kabaddi? I knew nothing about it so he showed me a match and I was blown away by the passion players had and knew instantly that I had to be a part of it.”
As a team owner, Abhishek’s love for the sport is increasing with each passing day. “I get to interact and spend a lot of time with players whom I consider to be some of the greatest athletes. Kabaddi players are complete athletes, they’re a mixture of gymnasts, sprinters, weightlifters and wrestlers, all put into one.”
Asked what makes kabaddi different from other sports, he replies, “I sit with my team during the training and I have seen that their training consists not just a specific set of exercises but an all-round approach because kabaddi players require complete body agility and movement.”
Apart from being an Indian sport, the thing that fascinates Abhishek about kabbadi is the fact that it has roots in our mythology. “They have an amazing honour code in terms of sportsmanship and the respect they have for each other is worth emulating. Even if you remove the referee the game will go on; that’s how honest they are. They’re always on the mat but after the final whistle goes off they are like family again.”
Irrespective of victory or defeat, Abhishek cherishes the idea of simply being a team owner. “When we started off with first season of Pro Kabaddi League, people used to smirk at us. There wasn’t much sponsorship and money but now everything has changed like magic,” says the actor on the sidelines of the press conference of Star Sports Pro Kabaddi Season 3.
Giving a peep into players approach towards the sport, he narrates an incident, “In our first match we were well prepared. We were to fight against U Mumba. Being a Mumbai boy, I was in dilemma. We said a prayer and the team was charged up but to my surprise they got absolutely wasted in our first match. I went to Navneet and asked what happened? He said ‘Dada, woh Amitji ko kabhi dekhe nahi hain na! (We have not seen Amitabh Bachchan) I realised the simplicity of these boys and how they were being introduced to a new world of glory and glamour.”
The first season had been a journey for Abhishek as he had to train the boys how to interact with the media and occasionally played the role of journalist by asking them questions. “In the second season these boys have come like rockstars and thrilling everyone with their enthusiasm.”
On his father’s reaction to his decision of owning the team, Abhishek says, “I went to him and said Pa, I want to do this and I feel really impassioned towards it. Yeh humara khel hai, (It is our sport) let’s do something for it. I had seen him play kabaddi in Ganga Ki Saugandh. After that I asked him about the game after which he taught me how to play it. So I asked him about his opinion on my owning a team and he said, Chal Kabaddi Kabaddi...and that was how it started and we were on it.”
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