Punjabi movie ‘Khido Khundi’ to depict rich hockey legacy of Sansarpur village

Sansarpur, a village in the Jalandhar cantonment, has a rich hockey legacy. The world-famous village has given 15 Olympic medals, including eight gold and a silver. And all the Olympic medallists are from one clan ‘Kulars’. Depicting the rich Olympic legacy of the village, a Punjabi movie ‘Khido Khundi’ will capture the essence of the game.

To be released early next year, ‘Khido Khundi, which literally means ball and hockey stick, is a blend of fiction and non-fiction revolving around Sansarpur village. The movie traces the golden age of Indian hockey in which Punjab, particularly Sansarpur, made a major contribution to Indian hockey. It also depicts the current scenario, where Sansarpur has lost its sheen. While a major part of the movie has been shot in Sansarpur, some scenes have been shot in London.

The story is about two Punjabi NRI brothers settled in England. They aim to make the game of hockey come alive again, and taking it as a challenge, they return to their roots in Sansarpur where their father once used to be the caretaker of the hockey field before migrating to England. With the help of village youth, they form a team and later challenge an English Club in a three-match series.

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“We will showcase the glorious past of Sansarpur hockey by using the old Olympic clips (between 1920 and 1968). Also, we will show the photographs of the 14 Olympians -- including the four who represented Kenya -- from the village. We did a lot of research and took the help of the Olympians from Sansarpur,” director Rohit Jugraj told Hindustan Times.

“It (the movie) had been long pending. For the last decade or so, we were trying to highlight the glorious past of Sansarpur and introduce it to the new generation. The movie ‘Khido Khundi’ is a good initiative and hope it will help highlight the rich heritage of Sansarpur hockey,” said 1968 Olympian Col Balbir Singh. There were five players from Sansarpur in the 1968 Moscow Olympics squad and in the same Olympics, another two, with roots in Sansarpur, were part of Kenya.