Tiger is a based-on-a-true-story boxing movie about Pardeep Nagra. It tells of his fights in and out of the ring fueled by his simple refusal to shave his beard, an outward sign of his Sikh religion. It premiered and won Best Feature at the San Diego International Film Festival (a festival we were at by the way! You can check out what we had to say about some other movies here) and will have its limited release this Friday.
I had the opportunity to ask some questions of the two screenwriters for the movie, Michael Pugliese and Prem Singh (who plays Pardeep in the film), and this is what they had to say.
Cole: Pardeep was shown at the end of the movie training with Prem. As with most ‘based on true stories’ I’d like to know how involved Pardeep was in the process.
Mike: Pardeep was extremely supportive since day one. He was willing to meet at anytime to share as many stories and as much experience as he could with us. He allowed Prem and myself to be the creatives trying to bring his story to life.
Prem: Pardeep was very helpful in this entire process however he had two requests, 1) “Don’t make me look stupid” and 2) “Don’t give me an accent.” One thing I can tell you is that he allowed us to be creative and today is proud of the final product which makes us feel great.
Cole: Prem is one of the writers as well. Did you write this with yourself in mind to play Pardeep? Was this a story you were already familiar with?
Prem: I first saw Pardeep give an interview while he was going through this battle back in 1999 or early 2000. Now from my perspective, I was struggling to find roles that would break the stereotype of your typical South Asian actor, and once I saw his story, I knew right away I wanted to play this character.
Cole: What is a part of the real story that you most wish could have made it into the film?
Mike: Honestly, I think we got every major event that occurred during his ordeal. Our director Alister Grierson ensured that we were true and honest with Pardeep’s story. Of course, we added a few cinematic appealing scenes but 100% of his journey is portrayed in Tiger.
Prem: Mike is right, we captured every major event and experience that Pardeep faced throughout his journey to the Olympics. We even captured the essence of what he was mentally going through as well which is an important part of the journey. Alister did a wonderful job telling this narrative.
Cole: Boxing is not a popular sport in America anymore, yet it is still very represented in film. What would you say sets this apart from other boxing movies?
Mike: For Tiger, we wanted the boxing portion to be the underlying tone. Pardeep could have been a bowler, a tennis player, an athlete of any sport really. We wanted to tell a coming of age story, of a boy becoming a man. And having to love himself before he can love others. Boxing was merely the sport that propelled Pardeep to work towards living a fulfilling life.
Prem: I believe the boxing industry has its ups and downs like any industry but I would say it’s still a world wide sport that has a ton of history. Who doesn’t love a good ol’ fight!! This film is very different than all of the other boxing films because of the subject matter we brought to the table. Pardeep is struggling with his identity, and so many people can relate to him. We want to send the message that no matter what you are struggling with you, can overcome it.
Cole: What’s next for the two of you? More true stories, or any other scripts you can tell us you’re working on?
Mike: We can’t be too specific but we have a number of scripts we wrote and are in the process of developing under our Running Tiger Films banner. We want to inspire, motivate, and help affect the world of cinema in a positive way and will continue to try and do so.
Prem: We want to create content that will leave an impact. We want to entertain audiences and work with great directors, writers and actors.
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Tiger hits theaters this Friday starring Prem Singh, Mickey Rourke, Janel Parrish, and Michael Pugliese.
Find tickets here!
And, take a look at this one minute sneak peek provided by the filmmakers!
See the movie in a theater near you!
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