NIS boxing coach Ganesh Purohit’s Rise To ‘Stardom’

 

By Paritosh Pramanik

HIS role might be for a few seconds, but NIS boxing coach Ganesh Purohit has instantly become a ‘star’ after his ‘silver screen’ debut.
Farhan Akhtar starer Toofaan, which was released on OTT on Friday has Purohit as coach of cine star’s one of the opponents.
Though Purohit, who is coach of Indian boxer Nagpur’s Alfiya Pathan, was on camera for hardly three or four seconds, his gentle tap on boxer Aziz Ali’s shoulder’s, the role Farhan played, and the encouraging words, earned him quite a fame in the city as well as in different parts of the country.
Purohit is basking in ‘glory’ after his ‘movie debut’ and said he is receiving several calls from his friends from all over
the country.
“I am surprised with the recognition I am getting for those ‘few seconds’ on the screen,” said Purohit from Sonipath where he is with the Maharashtra boxing squad for the 4th BFI Youth Nationals.
“They (his friends) are happily shocked and are asking me ‘aap filmo me kya kar rahe ho’. And I have no answers to their queries,” Purohit told ‘The Hitavada’.
That scene of a few seconds was actually shot for four days during which the NIS and well-acclaimed coach of Maharashtra felt tired.
“There was a lot of editing done. My ‘role’ was shot for more duration but it has been cut down to a few seconds. It took four days to finalise that shot by the director,” recalled Purohit. The movie, in which Farhan plays the role of ‘Dongri Dada’ and then becomes a State champion boxer ‘Aziz Ali’, is directed by Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra. “There were few more shots where I had to take my boxer (Jagdish Thakur of Haryana) into the arena and then to the ring before the bout. But those have been edited,” said Purohit.
In the movie Purohit was seen tapping Farhan’s shoulder after the Bollywood star ‘controversially’ loses his semi-final bout (the result was later turned in his favour) and says “bahut achcha khele....well done.”
It was not an easy entry for Purohit as he had to give ‘screen test’ to get this role.
“We were in Kerala for a national meet where we were asked questions about boxing. Around 25-30 coaches were ‘interviewed’ after which they zeeroed in on me,” Purohit proudly said.
Purohit also got the opportunity to talk with Farhan during the shoot in Mumbai. “It was a brief chat during the shoot in Mumbai. We were sitting and he jokingly said to me: “Aap to original coach ho aur hum duplicate boxer hai.”
The movie also has Maharashtra Boxing Association Secretary Dr Rakesh Tiwari as a ringside doctor as well as Mumbai’s Priyadarshanadevi Padwal who was seen as a referee.
A certified referee, Padwal has also worked in another Bollywood movie ‘Holiday’ where she was seen officiating in one of the bouts featuring Sonakshi Sinha.