Peddi (పెద్ది)

Following the conclusion of the 31st Olympics in Brazil,

Union Sports Minister Vishnu Kanth Tiwari

voiced strong dissatisfaction over India's medal tally.

During a high-level meeting with Indian Olympic officials

at the Kolkata Sports Headquarters,

the minister called for sweeping reforms in athlete selection and training.

Sit, sit.

Sit.

Congratulations, sir.

This time we won two medals!

Sit!

You should feel ashamed.

We have to bow our heads to find India on the medals table.

When will we…

Hold our heads high?

Our country has a population of 130 crores.

And all we managed was two medals?

It took all of our efforts…

To produce just two champions.

We've poured crores of rupees into sports.

We've built so many academies.

Then what is going wrong?

Sir…

We've been giving the athletes at our academy proper training.

And proper accommodation.

To begin with, no one in this generation is even interested in sports.

Ask them their favorite sport,

and one says, "Temple Run."

Someone else says, "Candy Crush."

When the whole playground…

Fits in the palm of your hand,

who would bother going out to practice, sir?

What does your son do, Mr. Baiswal?

He's in his final year of Electronics at IIT Bombay.

What about your children?

My daughter's doing MBBS at AIIMS, Delhi.

My son's pursuing his master's in the US.

None of us play sports ourselves.

We don't even encourage our kids to play.

And yet, here we are

deciding the fate of sports and our athletes.

Wow!

I don't want silence.

If you don't come to the next meeting with a viable solution,

every academy in this country will be shut down.

The land will be leased to corporations.

And the sports budget

will be redirected to defense and agriculture.

Mr. Baiswal.

A loss on the field

isn't just the player's loss.

It's the nation's loss.

These are the people meant to win at the Olympics?

One, two, three, four…

As far as I know, Indians excel at only one sport.

Growing the population.

Well played!

What, sir?

- You played well. - You think so?

- Follow that bus. - Okay, sir.

What's going on here?

A sports competition, sir.

Such a huge turnout!

Youth here go crazy over sports, sir.

Kabaddi selections are underway here.

This is the Under-19 cricket team selection.

- Name? - Shiva.

- Age? - Nineteen.

Okay.

- Name? - Appanna Tendulkar.

- Age? - Nineteen.

Appanna, is Tendulkar your favorite?

Yes, sir. That's why I took his name.

Good.

- Name? - Venkat.

- Age? - Sixteen.

My favorite's Dhoni, sir.

- Name? - Govind.

- Age? - Seventeen.

Okay.

- Govind. - Sir?

Don't you have a favorite cricketer?

I do, sir!

My favorite cricketer…

Is Peddi!

- Peddi? - Yes, sir. Peddi!

- Name? - My name's Viswak.

My favorite player is Dara Singh, sir.

- Name? - I am Vasu.

My favorite wrestler…

- Is Peddi! - Wow!

Peddi again?

- Peddi! - Peddi!

- Peddi! - Peddi!

- Peddi! - Peddi, sir!

Peddi. Peddi.

My name is Arun Kumar. My favorite runner is Peddi, sir.

Peddi. Peddi.

My favorite runner is Peddi!

Peddi.

My favorite player is Peddi.

- Peddi. - Peddi.

- Peddi, sir. - Peddi, sir.

- Peddi... - Peddi, sir!

Greetings, sir. Have this.

No matter who I ask,

the sport changes, but the favorite player doesn't.

Peddi.

Is that the name of a god around here?

Even the rock you're sitting on is named after Peddi, sir.

It's true.

When Peddi hit a sixer,

it landed right here. So we named it in his honor.

Balls hit from this ground usually land here, don't they?

Sir! He didn't hit it from this ground.

That ground.

That one!

The one beyond that!

He hit it all the way from three grounds over.

I've seen a lot of sports.

Never seen anyone play this many.

One man…

Played all these sports?

In a village like this, no less?

Why?

Necessity turned him into an athlete.

To the youth here, Peddi isn't a god in a temple.

He is the god of the field.

I want to

know more about Peddi.

If you want to know about Peddi, a car won't get you there.

You'll have to walk, sir.

Let's go.

We'll have to cross those hills.

In the land of Vizianagaram, the birthplace of Kodi Rammurthy Naidu,

wrestling was losing its foothold

and cricket from distant lands was quietly taking root.

KODI RAMMURTHY NAIDU (1885 - 1942) "INDIAN HERCULES"

In the surrounding villages, cricket was played like cockfighting.

With high-stakes betting to match.

Bet a little, you win. Bet more, you lose.

Hey, Rambujji!

You replaced "Royal" in "Royal Enfield" with "Rambujji"?

Before I bought it, it was their name.

The moment I paid for it, it became mine.

Get lost.

Bro, my name isn't Loud Sesh.

My surname's Loud and I am Sesh.

As you say, Loud Sesh.

You may have seen many things being auctioned!

But here,

an auction is being held for a hired player!

For a hired player!

God's price is 10 paise.

Rambujji of Vizianagaram bids one rupee!

One hundred rupees.

- One hundred and one rupees! - Two hundred.

Six hundred!

- Bobbili! Six hundred! - Brother, we're bidding too high.

Rambujji of Vizianagaram bids six hundred and one rupees!

Going once! Going twice! Sold!

They snapped up the hired player, Peddi, for 601 rupees!

Our hired player Peddi was bought by Vizianagaram.

Why would we bet on Bobbili?

We place our bets on Vizianagaram.

Vizianagaram won the toss and elected to bowl.

Our fast bowler Rambujji is now bowling.

Now you're going to get it.

Wow! What a fierce and gripping contest!

Once, Vizianagaram and Bobbili clashed over kingdoms.

Today, they battle for a game.

BOBBILI 109

Chasing 125, Vizianagaram walks out to bat.

It's a drinks break.

If they have a hired player who can smash six sixes in an over,

we have a new bowler, Talari Ambrose.

Damn it!

Unable to withstand Talari Ambrose's fiery bowling,

the Vizianagaram batsmen are walking off injured

without even losing their wickets.

Shot!

VIZIANAGARAM, 16, OVERS: 2

Hey, Bujji!

Ambrose's spell has Dorabujji spinning with confusion.

The match is tilting towards Bobbili.

And Vizianagaram is in serious trouble.

- We might lose it. - You've cost us the match!

Where on earth is that hired laborer?

Where the hell is the cook Peddi?

The jaggery's boiling over.

Where did he disappear to instead of tending to it?

He went to the match, sir.

The whole batch will be ruined.

Shall I stir it in the meantime?

Hey! Let him come back.

Peddi!

Peddi! Peddi! Peddi!

Peddi! Peddi! Peddi!

Here comes the cork-ball maestro,

the man who can hit six sixes in a single over.