Former Kenya cricket and tennis captain Aasif speaks on the inspiration factor of sports films
Aasif Karim
Former Kenya cricket and Davis Cup tennis team captain Aasif Karim revealed recently that his favourite sports biopic is Dangal—a film on wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and his daughters Geeta and Babita.
Karim, 58, who is a strong believer that sport unites people and sports movies inspire society, is the chairman and chief organiser of the Kenya International Sports Film Festival. He was in the city for the screening of a sports film in Malayalam—Madappally United.
“Dangal is a very inspirational story and it’s my favourite, but all sports biopics like MS Dhoni: The Untold Story and even the fictional Chak De India and Lagaan…I thought were very good,” Karim told mid-day.com recently.
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“Madappally United is a fantastic film with a strong social message. This message must go out, not only in India. It’s a global message about making grounds available for children to play. We have a similar problem in Kenya,” Karim remarked about the Ajay Govind (writer and director) film.
When asked how he became a sports films supporter, he said: “In Kenya, we have very good athletes – runners, cricketers etc, but we have nothing — books or stories — about them. Our sports stars are unsung heroes and we need to honour them and leave a legacy for future generations to come to see where it all began. I felt I should do something and that’s how the concept of this sports film festival began in 2018.”
