Around April every year, Coorg’s famous tea-plantation fields turn into a hockey ground to host the Kodava Hockey Festival. It is considered the world’s largest hockey tournament that’s played fondly, and as a tradition, between the families of the region. The essence of this unique tournament has been canned in a 52-minute long documentary, “Hockey in my blood,” by Sandhya Kumar. It captures the relationship between the sport, the festival and the people involved – the Kodavas, a martial-tribal community who live in the beautiful Western Ghats in south-western Karnataka.

It all started when 69-year old Pandanda Kuttappa, who was a first division hockey referee, realized the passion for hockey in Kodagu district and also, that the junior hockey players were not getting enough recognition and exposure. In 1997, he organized the first tournament which was also a way to unite the community at one common occasion. In the beginning, there were 60 families, and today the number has gone up to 200. Interestingly, the game has no rules regarding age and gender but all the team members must be from the same family. The Kodava Hockey Festival has given India more than 50 players who have represented it in international tournaments; seven have even represented India in the Olympics. Renowned hockey players B P Govinda, M P Ganesh, M M Somaiya and C S Poonacha are all Kodavas.

“Hockey, once India’s pride, has been on the path of steady decline. From a dead certain Olympic gold medal discipline just a few decades ago, these days the national team struggles to qualify for the major tournaments. Given this scenario, for one region to continue to be so passionate about the game is a story in itself. But how the Kodavas have used the sport as a social glue to keep their community together is uniquely another story,” says the filmmaker.

The film starts with the final match of the 2013 tournament and runs back and forth from turning the rural hinterland into a professional hockey ground, stories of families and team players and different levels of matches. The whole family — from the oldest member to the youngest — practicing hockey in coffee plantations reflects the sentiments attached to the sport. Little Prajwal says that his family team is the best, just like Team Australia in the World Cup! On the other hand, 17-year-old Priya boasts of how she was made the captain the first time she ever played because she was the only girl in the team. “Over three months, the film travels to many parts of Coorg in a quest to understand ‘why hockey’ and ‘what a family tournament means to its people’”. The film also has former Olympians and professional hockey players from Kogadu going down the memory lane reminiscing their days playing on the plantation fields.

Bangalore-based Kumar has been making documentary films since 2007 and received the President’s National Film Award of India for 2013. She has films like “O Friend, This Waiting!” (2012), “Memory of a Light” (2014) and “Light Falling on White Flowers” (2009) to her credit.

-“Hockey in my Blood” was recently screened in Delhi at India International Centre and is scheduled to be screened in Bangalore this evening at Everest Talkies in Fraser Town. For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/hockeyinmyblood

source: http://www.uk.bluinartinfo.com /BlouInArtInfo.com / Home> Performing Arts> Film> Article / by Hemani Bhandari /July 09th, 2015