He walks into the room booked for the fashion shoot in Taj Bengal in a pair of maroon slim trousers and a grey tee, looking super fit. He goes through the four looks set by designer Jyotee Khaitan for him and fires a few questions on the fabrics and fits. Once he’s satisfied with the looks, Bhaichung Bhutia poses like a pro.
Shoot done, he settles down for a chat, his smile broadening when asked about his kids and his eyes crinkling with laughter when asked about his relationship status. Over to Bhaichung for fashion and football, fitness and family, politics and passions.
Jyotee has paired a navy blue bandhgala with an embroidered collar and velvet detailing with antique gold patiala pants. “This is the top favourite for sangeet ceremonies… the patiala gives the flexibility to dance,” says the designer. This look happens to be Bhaichung’s favourite too. “I love this look because I don’t get to wear Indian clothes much,” he says.
The Stylista
I think style is something that makes me feel comfortable and confident. The fit and the cut are very important to me. [“What he told me when he came for the shoot is that the fabric is very important to him too,” adds Jyotee.] I wear everything, depending on the occasion, but when I am at home you’ll see me in track pants and T-shirts.
I am not very fussy about brands. But yes in terms of formal clothes, I have a few brands that I like. For suits I am a big fan of Massimo Dutti, which in terms of price, fit and cut are perfect for me. Being a footballer, my legs are strong and to get a cut that fits me is quite a challenge. (Laughs) Otherwise, something classy and elegant in good material I am okay with. In terms of sporty, not because I am associated with the brand but I think Nike is one brand that I like for the material and the fits.
I am not at all into accessories. If you see me, I never wear anything (points at his wrist which doesn’t even have a watch). I have just one ring that’s my dad’s, which I wear more for the sentiment (a gold ring with the letter ‘S’ inscribed on it).
The sportsman
When I used to play I used to work out, but now that I have stopped playing I don’t get any time to work out. I have put on a bit of weight. But when you don’t get time to go to the gym, food is something that you try to control. Even when I was a player I was an outdoor kind of guy… like I would work out in the gym, but I liked to go to the ground. So after retiring it has been quite a challenge to go to the gym. I am still happy playing outdoors like tennis, football… actually football not much, because my knee is not right. I do go to the ground, my team is there in Sikkim, but I don’t play. I do miss it, but can’t help it. At the end of the day you are on the ground, with the guys, and that makes you feel good. You would want to play at that pace, but I do accept what the age and the body do not allow. Mentally I am okay with that.
A simple black kurta-salwar has been jazzed up with a gold bundi with black net stripes on it. “This ensemble can be worn to a reception or an occasion where you would want to wear smart Indian clothes,” says Jyotee.
The ATK man
My involvement with ATK was never to do with game-to-game or be in the matches. My involvement with ATK was to help build the team, which I think we built this year. Mostly I was dealing with the Indian players… and if you compare last season’s performance with this season’s… I think the performance of the Indian players was much better... we had seven-eight goals scored by Indian players, last season it was only three. Some of the best Indian players in ISL were from ATK. Amrinder Singh, the goalkeeper, was outstanding, Arata (Izumi) was one of the best players of ISL, so overall I think the Indian players performed very well.
I haven’t come forward because what happens is that if you’ve been a footballer you understand that the coach doesn’t like any interference. He is in complete control of the team. My biggest thing when I came into ATK was to retain (Antonio Lopez) Habas. Habas had given us the trophy, so I made sure he is retained.
The football administrator
I was the technical committee chairman for years with the Federation (All India Football Federation) and now I work as an adviser for the past six-seven months. So I have been involved with administration. I own a club, United Sikkim, which I took to I-League. I have my football academy, Bhaichung Bhutia School of Football; we’ve got 20 centres across India, which is one of the biggest grass roots football programme in India. We started about 10 years ago. It’s not there in Calcutta, but it’s big in Delhi and north India. I am not planning to get it to Calcutta because Calcutta already has a lot of clubs; here the youngsters have a lot of opportunities. So now we will go south, west and then east.
With the Federation we are focusing on youth development… we have started an academy in Manipur and hopefully will do one in Shillong and we have done a tie-up with Sports Authority of India so that they would give us the infrastructure. So my focus is totally to see that we have a proper scouting system. Hopefully if we can give support at that level then our football can have a good future. Football is getting some attention with the ISL, but to get attention you need results. So it is very important that the national team does well and the national team can only do well if we produce quality players.
A grey linen jacket gets a pop of colour from the slim maroon trousers. Perfect for a party or a
semi-formal do.
The politician
I have always followed politics, even when I was playing football. So basically I was always interested in getting into politics, it was the timing that had to be decided. And one of the reasons for joining Trinamul was because of the influence of our CM, Mamata Banerjee. I have always respected her.
Today in India one of the biggest issues is corruption… and not only at the top level, right from the grass root level. If India has to move forward, that’s where we have to fight. Once you join politics you have to give time… you’re working with people’s lives… you’re going into politics to really change people’s lives. You are going to make a difference in terms of betterment of quality of life. For that you need to invest time and be in touch with the people and see their problems and issues. I have not been able to do that because I’ve got more involved with football. I live in Sikkim and my area is Siliguri so I keep meeting the people, interacting with a lot of my local leaders… but I haven’t been able to reach out to the grass root level of people, and they are the most important ones.
All over India one major problem is that the grass root level development is not happening. We are talking of a lot of things at the higher level... if the higher level is only moving forward and the quality of development is not going down, then I think that’s very unfair. The higher level development is essential… like FDIs coming in and so on... but if development doesn’t reach the lower levels then it’s not right. Once the lower level gets pushed up then everything gets pushed up.
The dad
I’ve just spent quite sometime with my kids in the last 10 days, so I am very, very happy (shows pictures on his phone of his kids vacationing in Darjeeling). I’ve got three kids — my son Ugen and daughter Keisha are twins, they are going to turn six soon, and my younger daughter is Samara (four). My elder daughter is very, very sporty; she’s the one who always wants to be outdoors and play sports… running, badminton, tennis, football. My son is picking up, but he’s got a lot of influence of iPads, phones, Cartoon Network. He is following football, in fact I am surprised that he knows a lot of players in ISL… but what I get frustrated with him is that he has to win everything, he has to do well, any time he starts losing he will not play! My daughters are faithful followers… when I say our team is United Sikkim or we will support Arsenal or ATK, we are fully supporting that team, but my son, as soon as a team starts losing he supports the other team (laughs).
The living-out-of-a-suitcase guy
I don’t have any particular routine now because right now I can’t even say where my base is. If I go to Sikkim, within two days I’ll be travelling back. Siliguri I go for two-three days, then Calcutta I have come today and tomorrow I’m leaving… Delhi is another place where I have to be, with the Federation work. So my typical day is just packing my bag and moving. (Laughs) When I was playing I knew exactly what I would do… wake up at 7, go train, come back, sleep, go to the gym… things like that, but now there’s no routine.
His Twitter (@bhaichung15):
I have just started using it about a month, I haven’t been very active… my Twitter was given to a friend who used it for some football promotions, now for the last month I have taken it back.
His Instagram (@bhaichung15):
I never knew that my Instagram was locked because I hadn’t used it for long, so now I have opened the thing and I’m getting into it.
His apps: Uber is the only app I use (laughs)… that too I downloaded only two weeks ago. I am really bad with technology. I don’t know if I am lazy or why, I have no interest.
His selfies: Not so much, people come and take and I oblige… otherwise you won’t see my selfies on my Instagram.
His phone playlist: I don’t have music downloaded in my phone.
His fashion brands: Nike & Massimo Dutti.
His relationship status: No comments on my personal life for sure (laughs out loud).
Smita Roy Chowdhury
Pictures: Pabitra Das
Make-up: Lokenath Das, hair: Chandra Mitra
Bhaichung is a role model because.... Tell t2@abp.in
