After Nil Battey Sannata and Bareilly Ki Barfi, Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari is back with another film Panga, which she describes as a 'slice-of-life sports drama' as it revolves around a 30-something protagonist who’s a professional kabaddi player. Although Panga means to ‘to mess with’ someone or something, Ashwiny claims that the word will take on a new meaning after the film releases. “We are all stuck in a rut; life is about getting a job, getting married and having kids; we’ve forgotten there’s a life beyond all this. Panga is about taking up a challenge, we’ve humanised the term,” the filmmaker said in an interaction with a leading daily.
She further pointed out that as contrary to title, the film is about the role of a family in making a person’s dream come true. Drawing parallels with her own life, Ashwiny maintained, “Many warned me that my debut film, the story of a mother going back to school to encourage her daughter to study, wouldn’t work, but I persisted. It’s important to reinvent yourself everyday, otherwise you reach a saturation point," adding that as a woman director, can read minds and provide a female gaze to her films.
What's more? The film draws its inspiration from Kabaddi, a contact sport played between two teams of seven players each. More so, the women’s version has had no representation in Hindi cinema. “In a jungle, when someone’s being attacked, the flock joins forces. It’s animal instinct to help someone who’s part of your herd. In kabaddi, too, everyone unites to help one person out of a sticky situation which is the basic concept of a family too," Ashwiny added.
Panga is slated to release on Republic Day weekend and will clash with Varun Dhawan-Shraddha Kapoor’s Street Dancer 3D. When asked about the box-office competition, Ashwiny signed off by saying, “Shraddha is like my baby, I wish the best for her film as well as mine."
Besides Kangana, the ensemble cast comprises Jassie Gill, Richa Chadha and Neena Gupta. It will be presented by Fox Star Hindi.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
