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Tribeca Buzz: A Talk with the Directors of Challenging Impossibility

Published on April 22, 2011

by Mary Iannone

“Sri Chinmoy was a small man for his feats and proclaimed his sense of inner peace as the source of his outer strength. He also wanted to encourage people never to give up. No matter one’s age, no one is too [old] to keep trying.”

It’s not often that the terms philosopher, poet, spiritual leader and world record-breaking strongman are attributed to one individual. But Sri Chinmoy, the subject of the new short documentary film Challenging Impossibility, was all of the above. Before his death in 2007, Sri Chinmoy had built a global spiritual following as well as broken several weightlifting records. One such record included lifting over 200,000 pounds in the span of a single day (at the age of 73, no less).

Co-director Natabara Rollosson was interested in “the idea that we all can excel in any field if we know how to tap into our inner resources.” Sri Chinmoy never referred to himself as a weightlifter; he simply was a proponent of using physical fitness to strengthen one’s body and soul.

Challenging Impossibility began in 2009 as a video tribute “in honor of the 25th anniversary of Sri Chinmoy’s weightlifting odyssey,” says co-director Sanjay Rawal. “We began by simply interviewing a handful of the most important inspirational figures to Sri Chinmoy and recording their recollections of Sri Chinmoy’s humble beginnings of working out with 40 pound dumbbells. The content people were providing transcended a simple video tribute for the 25th anniversary celebration and as we were completing the final set of interviews, we began tailoring questions toward specific narratives.”

A majority of Challenging Impossibility’s production team were meditation students of Sri Chinmoy’s, and had previous experience with his weightlifting events. Because of this, Rawal says, “We have the material to develop as much as a six part series of films on his weightlifting and interview the dozens upon dozens of people associated with his achievements.” These people included strongmen Hugo Girard and Carl Lewis, musicians Ravi Shankar and Quincy Jones, and actress Susan Sarandon.

But “because one particular narrative seemed so compelling, we limited the scope of our production. Every few years Sri Chinmoy would hold a weightlifting exhibition for the public at which…he would perform a series of lifts culminating in a total poundage of over 100,000 pounds over a few hour period,” says Rawal. “Challenging Impossibility is a classic sports film, focused on this night. But we expect the message of his weightlifting to far transcend the audience of sports fans.”

Adds Rollosson, “The sport of weightlifting might not be for everyone, but it is an uplifting metaphor for inner and outer strength and inspiration. I just hope this film moves people of all ages to consider what they have deep inside them, just waiting for outer expression.”

Challenging Impossibility makes it world premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival.

For more on Challenging Impossibility, visit the film’s official website.

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