Inspired by the wild popularity of American WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) in India, two brothers create their own wrestling league. Assembling a band of aspiring wrestlers, they put at stake money, social acceptance and love, in pursuit of a daring dream. This is the premise of The Dirty Dream, pitched at CPH:DOX 2024 and helmed by Rintu Thomas and Sushmit Ghosh who were Oscar-nominated filmmakers for their 2021 doc Writing with Fire.
The feature is produced by India’s Black Ticket Films, whose critically acclaimed slate of work has a focus on Indian stories with a global appeal and which have snagged numerous awards in addition to the Academy Award nomination. These including a Peabody and multiple nominations at PGA, Grierson and IDA. They have played at major festivals such as Sundance, IDFA, San Francisco, Yamagata and, of course, CPH:DOX.
“A few years ago I read a newspaper article which I found quite intriguing because it talked about two brothers who were running an entertainment wrestling company called Freak Fighter Wrestling. It was [something] unusual because it was a copycat, Indian version of the hugely popular American WWE. They’ve got this smart idea because outside of the US, India has the largest wrestling audience in the world,” said Thomas.
“When we met the two [leading] characters, Sachin and Prince, we were actually introduced to a subculture whose heroes and villains are men and women from working class backgrounds, who are literally scripting their ‘alternate reality’ for themselves,” she added before playing a clip boasting footage shot last year.
Sachin (aged 42) and Prince (39) are two brothers who literally devoured WWE on TV. As they grew up, fantasy gave way to an obsession – to build their own version of WWE in India. With limited resources, they devise ingenious ways to build the league in Delhi – engineering a wrestling ring in a scrap yard, learning English from YouTube tutorials and scripting copycats of their favourite American fighters. As the brothers begin to stage their spectacular shows, the word quickly spreads and local audiences begin to attend more and more Freak Fighter Wrestling events.
Meanwhile, Sachin and Prince strive to fulfil their roles of caring fathers, husbands and sons, but they find themselves grappling with the challenges of meeting these expectations. The official CPH:DOX catalogue defines it as “a revealing portrait of the performance of masculinity, a gentle and absorbing story of muscular men, their conflicted inner worlds and their deep desire of acceptance,” capable of “painting a nuanced and layered portrait of modern India.”
The pitch was very well received by the panellists, who appreciated the presence of a clear family drama but also its very uplifting, light-hearted mood. “We’re taking a year to see how our story is developing, and out of the stories [we’re working on] from the wider South-East Asian region, this is the one that allows us to play around with humour,” Thomas said, adding how the trust built with the two protagonists helped them to film and witness “intimate moments.”
The topic of toxic masculinity is particularly important, she argues, since “now, more than ever” it is present in all everyday aspects of our life, “in India and worldwide.” It is also crucial, she adds, to see “women pushing back against certain [societal] norms” which limit their roles and opportunities.
In sum, The Dirty Dream is the story of “a band of misfits” and “a big family” experiencing their highs and lows. “It’s a really strong handful of characters, [coming from] the very specific context of India but, hopefully, their stories will resonate with international audiences,” Thomas ended.
