‘Sultan’ a mixed bag, says first family of Indian wrestling
NEW DELHI: Akhadas and films don’t mix. When they do, it becomes awkward. Like it was for Satpal, two-time Olympic medallist Sushil Kumar’s mentor and father-in-law, after he, alongwith sons Luv and Kush Sehrawat, agreed to watch ‘Sultan’, the Salman Khan flick, with HT.
Satpal, who looked out of place in Connaught Place’s Odeon cinema, remembered how he was beaten at age 13 by mentor Guru Hanuman for watching ‘King Kong’. “Bahut joote maare the guruji ne. Teen din to sar soojha tha mera (My head was swollen for three days after the thrashing). But it was good, I never watched another movie. You see a lot of women doing things. You get desires and lose focus. I achieved everything while following Brahmcharya (celibacy). That’s why we don’t encourage disciples to watch movies,” he explained. The film started, but Satpal was already fidgety as the seat was uncomfortable for one of the youngest Hind Kesari of his time. Hands on the head, one could see, he did not enjoy films.
When the wrestling shots began to roll, the eyes were on the screen. “Ultiputhi (back salto) usne bahut acchi lagaayi. Bilkul pehelwano ki tarah (his technique was like a trained wrestler),” he said.
But a few things were way off. “Akhade ki mitti jaise dikhaayi hai waise nahi hoti (he meant it looked coarse). The mitti in the akhada is mixed with mustard oil, turmeric and mehendi (henna) to make it softer. They show grass near the akhada, a cardinal sin as it portrays bad times. “There are girls training in the same akhada as boys, a strict no-no.” The song and dance sequences make Satpal and Kush squirm, and they try to look away. Salman becomes a wrestler to win over his lady love, and that doesn’t go down well with the boys. His wrestling shots too are few.
From nobody, Salman transforms into the Haryana state champion, beats a wrestler double his weight, wins gold at the Commonwealth Games in 2010 and gold at the Asian Games and London Olympics. The grin on Satpal’s face says it all. In real life, it takes a lifetime to get near a major international medal.
“These things will happen as it is a film; they need to have some masala or a song for fans. Otherwise, the film will fail. But the way he gets up and beats his opponent in the gold medal fight after getting plastered all over the mat was too much... aisa nahi hota (doesn’t happen like this),” he said.
But Satpal gave credit to Salman for trying to look authentic.