MUMBAI: Jhund starring Amitabh Bachchan has been creating quite the stir ever since its release on the 4th of March. Directed by Nagraj Manjule, the biographical sports drama follows the story of a football coach named Vijay Barse, who teaches the sport to children and youth living in slums. The film has been garnering appreciation from critics and viewers alike. Now here is the story of the man who inspired Big B’s character – the real-life Vijay Barse. 

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Barse was a sports teacher in Nagpur’s Hislop College. In 2001, after seeing a few children from the slum playing in the rain as they kicked a broken bucket, he gave them a football. In 2002, Vijay Barse invited the slum children to a playground, which became popular as Slum Soccer. He named the club Zopadpatti Football.

Barse was once quoted saying, “I knew that all players came from living in zopadpatti/slums, and I have to work for them only so I must continue this name.” With Slum Soccer, Barse focused on the rehabilitation of slum children along with providing them with training in football.

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In 2012, Vijay Barse was honoured with the Real Hero Award by Sachin Tendulkar for his relentless and selfless work in discovering, empowering, and nurturing football talent from the underprivileged section of society. In 2016, his NGO, Slum Soccer, was felicitated with several awards like the FIFA Diversity Award, FICCI India Sports Award, and Manthan eNGO Award. In 2016, Vijay Barse was honoured with the Nagbhushan Award. 

Credit: Pinkvilla