Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
ARE OLYMPIC HEROES BOLLYWOOD’S NEXT STOP FOR INSPIRATION?
Many filmmakers feel the journey of the sporting stars should be chronicled on screen
Awell made sports film has all the makings of a good entertainer and more often than not, such films have worked wonders at the box office. And as sporting heroes scripted history at the Tokyo Olympics, back home filmmakers are hoping to draw inspiration from them for their next projects. A Manipur-based film production company has already announced plans to make a biopic on Saikhom Mirabai Chanu, who won the country’s first silver medal in women’s weightlifting event at the Tokyo Olympics.
Now many anticipate a rush of film announcements will soon follow in Bollywood based on or inspired by the lives and achievements of some of these sporting icons.
Filmmaker Tushar Hiranandani, who helmed the biopic on the shooter dadis, Saand Ki Aankh (2019), says, “Of course I am sure, already filmmakers, who want to make films on them, have reached out to these sports stars. Such achievements should be chronicled on screen.”
He says he would like to explore a film on the Indian women’s hockey team captain, Rani Rampal. “I love her journey to be captain. She has led from the front and it is a great individual story that I would look at. She is a Rani in the truest sense,” he shares.
Producer Anand Pandit too is looking to explore the idea of making a film on one of these Olympic heroes. “I would want to celebrate these players who have fought so many battles to finally reach the victory podium. They are an inspiration because they have won global glory against all odds,” he says.
A biopic on PV Sindhu, who won a bronze this year in Tokyo, has already been in the works for two years now. While there is no official word on the status of the film, a source shares the makers will have to rejig the script with this new win.
Trade analyst Atul Mohan says,
“Some announcements are definitely round the corner. You know how our filmmakers are and they always want to cash in on the current topics. We will see some on hockey, wrestling, for sure. A film on Dhyan Chand is in the making and that will also get a great advantage now that the men’s hockey team won a bronze.”
But filmmaker Anees Bazmee feels it is way too soon to make films on the current Olympic heroes as they still have a long way to go. “I am very proud of the performance but this is not their finale. To make a film immediately will not capture their future achievements,” he says. to Mon);