If you’re from Kolkata, the words ‘rugby’ and ‘jungle’ are likely to conjure up images of boys playing on the Maidan while a ginger-haired British man hollers after them. Which is why Jungle Cry streaming on Lionsgate Play might egg you on to watch an international sports drama inspired by a bunch of impoverished yet heroic kids from this city and beyond. We all know that they go by the name Jungle Crows. And they were thrown together when Paul Walsh, a diplomat-turned-social worker in Kolkata, decided to use sport as a means of social upliftment.

In 2007, the Jungle Crows formed the under-14 team representing India. From the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar, they went on to win the TourAid Nations Cup in London. Most of the boys hailed from tribal families in Odisha, and found food, lodging and education at KISS but their initiation into the unfamiliar sport of rugby came from a team of Kolkata Jungle Crows coaches. This is the story that inspired the making of Jungle Cry.

The movie version of Paul Walsh (played by Stewart Wright) sees him travelling to KISS to turn young destitute footballers into rugby champs. It seems they have all the prowess because he sees them throwing, catching and chasing a bottle, sure-footedly winding their way through the narrow lanes of an Odisha village. And so the story begins, with predictable twists and turns – the boys aren’t sold on the idea but eventually they do make it to London because they adore Coach Rudra (Abhay Deol) and because… London!

The movie has its philosophical moments, learning curves and comedic points, all culminating in an astonishing victory. The final match could be dismissed as unbelievable if one didn’t know that this really had happened, that these underprivileged boys had trained for only four months before beating the South African team, Langa Lions, 19-5.

Paul Walsh with Jungle Crows who starred in the movie as ‘Jungle Cats’. Source: Amit Datta

The Jungle Cats in the movie have been played by some of the real Jungle Crows boys, who were given the once-in-a-lifetime chance of being movie stars on film sets in the UK, where they befriended English rugby players and the British Fish n Chips. The movie version of Paul Walsh, after making an enthusiastic entrance, fades out as the plot begins to focus on the dynamics between the boys, the egg-shaped ball and Coach Rudra.

The story of the real Paul Walsh remains inspirational and unrepresented. But at the end of the premiere at the British Club Kolkata, the hall reverberated with cheers for “Paul Sir”, the man who gave up everything to pluck kids out from nowhere, and give them a reason to be. It’s not a loyalty that Screen Paul (sarcastically referred to as “Pakora” by the KISS boys) had reason to earn.

But is the movie worth a watch? Absolutely. Just to be able to understand the odds against the Jungle Crows and how they overcome it every day.