Photographs: Pradeep Bandekar Ankur Pathak in Mumbai
While his contemporaries are venturing into film and TV production, actor Sanjay Dutt is treading a relatively new path.
The actor has joined hands with British entrepreneur Raj Kundra, better known in India as Shilpa Shetty's better half, to launch a premier organization called the 'Super Fight League' -- a wrestling tournament that'll have fighters combat each other through Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) techniques.
With this novel venture, the duo plans to reach out to a largely unexplored Indian viewership and also give a great opportunity to young wrestling enthusiasts to reach their maximum potential.
One set of champions have already started training in a Pune arcade. The venture, touted as 'sportainment', will feature fights and an interesting line-up of musicians, Bollywood stars and international celebrities who will add to the glamour quotient.
Speaking about the concept, Kundra, who is also the Founder Chairman said, "India is a virgin territory as far as professional fighting is concerned. Launching a sport here without a bat and a ball is like launching a Bollywood film without song and dance. But what we have to offer is 'sportainment' with world-class fighters competing in the best of the rings. Our action films do incredibly well in the country. It is time somebody gave our audiences a dose of real action".
Sanjay Dutt, Raj Kundra start a fight!
Image: Raj Kundra and Sanjay Dutt with participating fightersPhotographs: Pradeep Bandekar
When quizzed about his involvement in the venture, Dutt said it was his father, the late Sunil Dutt's vision to have a professional centre for Martial Arts, and that he himself is a big enthusiast and was more than willing to invest in the unique sport.
"I learnt Kung-Fu as a kid. An early film of mine was based on sports", he said.
When asked about what wife Maanyata thought about the venture, he said she was very supportive of it. While Shilpa Shetty, who's pregnant with her first child, joked to Kundra that she is already getting a lot of kicks and cannot bear to see anymore.
The first "Fight Night" is scheduled to take place in Mumbai on March 11.
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