SHASHWAT GUPTA RAY
In a passionate effort to hon our Goan sports heritage and inspire the next generation of athletes, inde pendent filmmakers Sharvi Dhond and Poonam Bind have created a short documentary, ‘From Goalpost to Glory’, detailing the legendary ca reer of former Indian football team captain and Goan icon Brahmanand Sankhwalkar. The film explores his journey while placing his story within the larger cultural significance of football in Goa. Having previously worked in the fiction genre, From Goalpost to Glory marks Sharvi Dhond’s first venture into documentary filmmaking. Dhond directed and anchored the film, while Poonam Bind served as its cinematog rapher and editor. “I decided to make this film as I wanted to promote Goan football.
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I wanted to bring forth the story of Sankhwalkar sir, who was one of In dia’s best footballers and also the captain of the Indian football team. A lot of people said making a documen tary in Goa wouldn’t be successful, but I wanted to do it, so I went ahead with it. My partner, Poonam Bind, actively supported me in making the documentary, and we completed it after overcoming many hurdles,” Dhond said. “The key highlight was to show the audience the story of a man who shaped Goan football. We shared im portant moments from his childhood, how he got his first big break, the famous 1983 Santosh final against West Bengal, which he is known for, and also about the family that supported him. We can’t share many spoilers, but we hope we get an op portunity to showcase it in Goa soon,” she said. “We needed to gather accurate information and conduct research, as you can’t have wrong facts in a documentary about such an important figure. We had to arrange con tact with the legend, and during the interview, being in the same room with him felt overwhelming. We didn’t have a budget, so we made a simple film,” she said. The team researched extensively, perusing several books as well as news articles. “When we spoke to Sankhwalkar sir, we got clarity and confidence. Once the shoot was completed, we had a strong flow in mind; it felt like the interview inspired us and cre ated a spark.
We asked our classmates to help us with the B-rolls. We borrowed equipment for the production and did our best to make it as good as possible as a two-person team,” Dhond said. The duo are graduates in Mass Communication from Don Bosco College, Panjim. They thanked their parents, friends and lecturers Archie Fernandes, Agnelo Raymond D’Souza, Sonika Lotlikar, Nikita Chodankar and Ardra Naik for their support. “People often think women are not into sports, so we wanted to showcase it from a women’s perspective. We want to promote Goan football and highlight the hard work it took for a man from Goa to reach the international level. Brahmanand Sankhwalkar is not just an icon for men but also for many women footballers. We believe many of them strive to be like him, and through this documentary, we can help motivate them,” she said.
