Jungle Cry review: Uplifting tale of the triumph of unlikely underdogs

Most Indians are unaware of rugby; let alone knowing the rules of the game. Sagar Bellary’s Jungle Cry (2022) aims to educate viewers on the game as it follows a team of boys who switch over from football and compete in the 2007 Under-14 rugby World Cup.

The unlikely underdog tale, starring Abhay Deol, Emily Shah and Atul Kumar, is set in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, and London, England. Atul Kumar plays Dr Samanta, the benevolent founder of the Kalinga Institute of Social Services (KISS), which provides a safe haven for poverty-stricken children.

A British man Paul (Stewart Wright) arrives to recruit the institute’s talented young athletes for an opportunity of a lifetime; he will teach them rugby to compete in the World Cup coming up in four months. The institute’s football coach Rudra Singh (Deol) is sceptical and dismissive at first.

The boys, most of them from tribal backgrounds, have grit and skill and soon they assemble as the Jungle Cats and head to an unfamiliar land to compete against players much bigger and stronger than them. We already know the outcome of this feel-good real-life tale, but it is exciting to see it unfold as the young men not only learn to compete on the world stage, but also learn a thing or two about sportsmanship and camaraderie.

The screenplay by Dipankar Giri and Diane Charles sets up the true-life tale — from the boys' humble origins to their struggles to pick up the rules of the game and then adjust to the tournament.

The inexperienced team deals with infighting, lack of motivation and injury before regrouping. When the film sticks with the young team, it is at its strongest.

The film also focuses on the adult characters who serve as surrogate parents to the boys — coach Rudra, who has to step up and learn a new sport, physio Roshni (Shah) who helps them settle in London, and Samanta, who is their biggest cheerleader and support back home.

Jungle Cry also has to educate viewers about the basic regulations of the game so that they aren’t lost along the way. While the Indian sequences of the boys learning the game are amusing, the actual tournament sequences sometimes feel a bit underwhelming. After their big win, many crowd shots show the spectators disinterested and downright bored in the proceedings. It would have been better to leave those on the cutting floor.

The young rugby boys, many of whom are likely non-professionals, are endearing and impressive. They steal the show from the adults. The end credits of the feature show the real individuals behind this uplifting success story, who have launched a new movement and triggered interest in rugby among young players after their triumph. Do stick around to know more about their monumental feat.

Jungle Cry will be streamed on Lionsgate Play from 3 June.