Sangram Singh is extremely happy with superstars Salman Khan and Aamir Khan’s portrayal of wrestlers in Sultan and Dangal, respectively. The wrestler, who won the gold medal at the Johannesberg Wrestling Championship in 2006, and the All India Open Wrestling competition in 2007, feels wrestling has finally been given its due in 2016. “It’s all thanks to Salman bhai and Aamir saab. In fact, I was speaking to Salman bhai, and jokingly told him he has done more for wrestling than all of us professional wrestling champions. After he worked in Sultan, the sport acquired a status that was only granted to cricket so far. Now there is Aamirji in Dangal. When a superstar of his stature is shown endorsing wrestling, it does wonders for the sport,” says Sangram, who has been working relentlessly to promote kushti in Indian cities.
Sangram feels, so far, there has been no respect for homegrown sports. “We love cricket and football but kabaddi and kushti are seen fit only for villagers. That’s changing now, thanks to Salman bhai and Aamir saab. I find that wherever I go I now get the attention of the sports fraternity. Even kabaddi now gets noticed in the metropolises because of Abhishek Bachchan’s interest in the sport.”
