Screening & Discussion Mit Jani, Prateek Gupta & Vivek Chaudhary (Dir.) / English / 2013 / 57 mins Wednesday 18 December / 7:00 pm Gulmohar Hall, India Habitat Centre/ New Delhi Synopsis: Goonga Pehelwan is a documentary that follows India's most successful deaf athlete on his unlikely quest to reach the Rio Olympics 2016. He would become only the second deaf wrestler in the history of the Olympics to do so. This is the story of Virender Singh -- a captivating account of the life of an incredible athlete; an athlete largely unknown, snubbed by the bureaucracy but who is no mood to let up as he continues to wrestle on. The film asks real questions to the sporting bureaucracy in India. Bringing to light all that Singh has achieved, it hopes that even if the bureaucracy doesn't wake up to his genius, at least the people of the country will know the smile of this champion. The struggle that Virender faces outside the wrestling arena are the tougher ones, because inside the ring he is in total control and losses are few. It's the battles outside the ring that this film endeavors to make him win. Mission Rio16 is an attempt by the filmmakers of Goonga Pehelwan to help fulfill, for a differently abled person, what is considered to be every athlete's greatest dream -- the pinnacle of all sporting contest, a competition that the world witnesses only once in four years: the Olympic Games. Mission Rio16 aims to help Virender in his quest to reach the Rio Olympics 2016 by fighting the bureaucracy through a Public Interest Litigation in the Delhi High Court and trying to bring about a policy change that allows differently abled athletes to go to the Olympics with other deserving athletes. For more info: www.lilafoundation.in/2013/12/19/mission-rio16-evening-goonga-pehelwan/

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