'22 Yards' director reveals budding cricketers' 'constant drive'

Mumbai, March 10 (IANS) Debutant filmmaker Mitali Ghoshal, who is set to release her film "22 Yards" based on the business of cricket, says that representing own country globally is the driving force for every budding cricketer.

Short formats in cricket such as the Indian Premier League (IPL) have offered young cricketers more opportunities than before.

Asked if becoming a cricketer and achieving celebrity status is easier than earlier, Ghoshal told IANS here: "I think every budding cricketer wants to play international cricket and wants to represent their country to the world. That is their constant drive."

"But only 11 players can do that out of a thousand budding cricketers. So the rest of the formats - T20, One Day matches give them the chance to play. But the ultimate goal is to play international test cricket."

She finds it similar to the options and mediums available to filmmakers.

"Irrespective of the format they get... web series, telefilm, short film, our ultimate goal is to make a feature film that holds an archival value," she added.

But some young cricketers manage to achieve the celebrity status quite fast and they fail to handle the success. One of the recent examples being Hardik Pandya's appearance on a celebrity chat show for which he received flak.

Commenting on the matter, Ghoshal said: "I believe that learning how to handle success and not getting carried away by its light is a very important lesson because it is more than often that when youngsters failed to do, that is when they entered into darkness."

"I think basic education that teaches you decorum, moral values and helps to achieve qualities to become a good human being is important. In the recent past, we all have seen what happens when a cricketer gets carried away."

"I don't think that for education, formal degrees can offer you such quality, but good and humble upbringing does. You see, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly... are not an MBA but they are not only super successful cricketers but also incredible human beings. If they are globally worshipped by cricket fans, it is not only because of their talent but also for their personalities."

Ghoshal was a sports journalist before venturing into filmmaking. So, was the subject of cricket a natural choice for her?

"I would say that it is not a conscious choice. Though the film is set in the world of cricket, it is a human story. The story was written by Samrat when we were working together on the documentary of Ganguly. The story of '22 Yards' was so engaging that I quickly decided to turn it into a film."

The film features Barun Sobti, Rajit Kapur, Chaiti Ghoshal and Geetika Tyagi, among others. The story of the film revolves around the journey of a cricket agent, his rise and fall which is narrated by Barun.

Why didn't she make the film on women's cricket in India?

"Well, that system of cricket agent, who invests on talents to get the endorsement for cricketers does not exist that much in women's cricket. So, the story does not fit there. Financial investment and the control of corporate companies are much lesser in women's cricket than that of men's."

"Having said that, women's cricket is really growing and talents like Mithali Raj, Jhulan Goswami and others are receiving much-deserved recognition," replied the filmmaker.

"22 Yards" is releasing on March 15.