The fever of Pro Kabaddi League has caught Indian ‘sports lovers’ attention and one team which is cashing in on all the fervor is Mumbai franchise UMumba. Ronnie Screwvala, the owner of the franchise is planning to take the game to different mediums to build a better connect with audiences.
Now in its second year, Pro Kabaddi League has jumped the viewership number by 61 per cent in the first 26 games against the same last year. This is partly due to the star power attached to the game and aspirational value the sport has for the country. Talking to Economic Times, Screwvala said he has plans to build a number of properties around the sport which will include a mobile, animation series and live action TV series.
The mobile game will be available on platforms with U Mumba players like Anup Kumar, Shabeer Bapu roped in to make it a recognisable brand. Also, the live action series will revolve around three friends who come from different parts of the country and their stories intertwine through kabaddi. As for the animation series, the story will be about an underdog young kid fighting his way through kabaddi league with characters from the U Mumba team guiding him.
Along with all this, Screwvala is also planning a movie around the sport and the scriptwriters are currently trying to understand the back story of various kabaddi players.