Barefoot Boys

In 1911, just three decades after the sport of football came to India, a group of Bengali men sent shockwaves across the entire British Empire. The Amor Ekadosh, or “Immortal Eleven,” competing in one of the oldest football tournaments in the world, did so without boots on their feet. Unafraid to go toe-to-toe with their colonisers, they showed a country what freedom felt like–long before its citizens were free. Konkona Sen Sharma brings the remarkable story, once erased from history, to life. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

British Conceptions

August 29, 2023 • 19 mins

It’s 1857. British soldiers play football in the barracks of Bengal, but Bengalis—with their “delicate limbs”—aren’t welcome to play ball. How could India come to be known as “the Brazil of Asia”? In this episode, we meet the Immortal Eleven.

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The Father of Indian Football

September 5, 2023 • 19 mins

We meet Nagendraprasad Sarbadhikari, founding father of Indian football. He showed Indians that they could not only express their masculinity, but also beat the British at their own sport.

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No Boots? No Problem

September 12, 2023 • 15 mins

Nagendra marries into the Sovabazaar family, and starts a football club in its name. The British are baffled when the Indians show up…barefoot.

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Mohun Bagan's Palatial Origins

September 19, 2023 • 19 mins

Three royal families set out to find a proper setting for a football club, and find it in the Mohun Bagan marble palace. Bagan’s start is rocky, but the winds of change—sporting and political—start to gather speed.

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Kicked Into Shape

September 26, 2023 • 17 mins

Former army man Sailen Bose shakes things up at Mohun Bagan, kicking (literally) the players into shape. The British decide to partition Bengal, in furtherance of the strategy of ‘Divide and Rule,’ but Bengal rises in protest. For inspiration, people begin to look to indigenous scientific innovators, nationalist writers and…footballers.

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The Bhaduri Brothers

October 3, 2023 • 16 mins

With the help of the Bhaduri Brothers, the Immortal Eleven ascend the ranks—all the way to the 1905 Gladstone Cup. Bengalis from all over travel to Chinsurah in the hopes of witnessing a victory against the British neatly packaged into a football tournament.

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The Bomb Heard 'Round Bengal

October 10, 2023 • 18 mins

A revolutionary terrorist bomb attack on a British magistrate in Muzzafarpur goes horribly wrong. A fired-up Mohun Bagan wins their way into the IFA Shield; politics can’t help but spill onto the field.

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The Amor Ekadosh Level Up (Again)

October 17, 2023 • 18 mins

No longer content with winning tournaments like the Trades Cup, Mohun Bagan set their eyes on the real prize: the IFA Shield. Sailen Bose scours the gullies of North Calcutta to identify talent, and captain Shibdas Bhaduri proposes an audacious tactical overhaul.

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The 1911 IFA Shield

October 24, 2023 • 18 mins

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The IFA Shield, Part Two

October 31, 2023 • 17 mins

All of Calcutta is decked up, and thousands throng the maidan to watch Bagan play the East Yorkshire Regiment again.

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The Barefoot Boys

November 7, 2023 • 17 mins

Mohun Bagan is the toast of Calcutta. The city burns with nationalist fervour and the British shift the capital to Delhi—away from the “bomb-wielding nationalists and barefooted footballers of Bengal.”

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Barefoot Boys: Trailer

August 1, 2024 • 1 min

Eleven men, playing without boots on their feet, showed a country what freedom felt like, long before its citizens were free. This is their story.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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