A still from the movie Chak de India with a picture of Soi Moi (fourth from left, back)

Ranchi, Aug. 21: Savitri Purty had reported to the national camp in 1983 in her slippers, recalled the former international hockey player after watching Chak de India. The film, she said, had left her and other women hockey players from Jharkhand overwhelmed.

“The film is so inspiring that I feel all the girls playing hockey in the state should be made to watch it,” said Purty.

The film has two characters supposedly from Jharkhand, Soi Moi Kispotta and Rani Kerketta, enacted by two South Indian girls. Purty and other hockey players, however, failed to make out that the two actors were not from Jharkhand. It was only much later, and after they had tried in vain to identify the actors, that they learnt they were outsiders.

Purty remembers the awe she felt at the national camp and admits she was scared of the players from Punjab. But senior players came to her rescue as they do in the film. Purty, the first woman from the state to represent India, was also tickled to find Jharkhand girls depicted as tongue-tied and failing to comprehend instructions from European referees. She herself made do with “yes, yes…no, no” in international matches, she says.

Purty, now the secretary of Jharkhand Women’s Hockey Association, is elated to find reference in the film to the Bariatu Government Girls’ School here. Marvelling at the meticulous research done by the film unit, Purty points out that the Bariatu school does have the distinction of producing around 50 national players at the senior level.

Narendra S. Saini, a former hockey coach, says while players here are naturally gifted and have excellent stickwork, they need to be more aggressive on the field.

Vimal Lakra, former international player, kept reminding the girls that they need to communicate with each other, keep talking, shout and scream, coaches recalled. But the girls remained quiet. That’s why, screening Chak de India might help, coaches agreed.