‘Proud of my career’
The ace tennis player opens up about his journey in
DOCU-DRAMAS HAVE JUST STARTED BEING MADE IN INDIA, THOUGH THEY’VE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE ABROAD. HAVE YOU WATCHED ANY?
WHILE GROWING UP, I DREAMED OF BECOMING A TENNIS PLAYER. I DON’T THINK AT ANY POINT I DREAMED THAT I WOULD HAVE WIMBLEDON TITLES TO MY NAME. WE (LEANDER AND I) WERE HAPPY COLLECTIVELY AND INDIVIDUALLY, THRILLED ABOUT WHATEVER WE WERE ABLE TO ACHIEVE
Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes were names to reckon with in the world of tennis, and teamed up to make India proud in the Doubles games internationally. From 1999, when they became the first pair from the country to reach the Finals of the Grand-Slam, they have been setting trends.
Now, the duo is setting another trend by reuniting to do a unique docu-drama, revealing their untold and intriguing real-life tale in Break Point — Bromance to Breakup, set to air on Zee 5.
Excerpts from an interview with Mahesh Bhupathi.
QMany people told me not to do a docu-drama as it does not have a market in India. But Leander and I have always believed that we need to be trendsetters rather than followers. We felt our story cannot be told in two hours. Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari were very excited to do it. Hopefully, this will now blaze a trail for more docu-dramas in India.
QHOW DID THIS THING HAPPEN?
We’ve been approached many times in the past 10-12 years. Maybe it was not the right time or we were not comfortable with the structure and the narrative earlier. But when we heard Ashwini and Nitesh wanted to talk to us, that’s what piqued our interest, as they are amazing storytellers. They weaved the story into an amazing narrative. Our job was to make sure we were totally candid. We gave our perspectives individually and made sure that we left it all out there. That’s how the journey started.
QWHAT WAS IT LIKE, RELIVING THE STORY?
Break Point is journey over 10 to 12 years, encapsulated into a seven-episode series. It has the story of Leander and me and of how we came together and how much hard work we put. It also accounts for the successes and the heartbreaks, the splits we have had in between. So yeah, it has been a pretty emotional 18 months of putting this together. It was rather exciting to be reliving this as well because we have so much footage that we never saw in the past ourselves.
QYOUR BREAK-UP WILL ALSO BE SEEN IN THE SHOW.
We obviously lived these stories our entire lives so it wasn’t that hard to share.
Nitesh and Ashwini did a lot of individual sessions with us via Zoom and gave us the comfort to let out everything we had to, including the emotions, because obviously shooting in front of a camera with a hundred people around is not the same as talking to someone about it. They did a good job training us for it.
QHAVE THE PEOPLE WHO KNEW YOU COMMENTED ON THE STORY?
They did speak to our families, friends, partners, rivals, colleagues and I think close to 30 people. They have shown a lot of matches as well. They have done an amazing job of getting footage from Wimbledon, to the French Open and the Davis Cup matches and the Olympics as well. The Bryan brothers — Bob and Mike, the Woodys —Todd Woodbridge and Mark Woodford — Jonas Bjorkman, Rohan Bopanna, Sania Mirza and some of the journalists who tracked us like Rohit Brijnath, Prajwal Hegde, our Davis Cup captain Jaydeep Mukherjee were among those who spoke. You can see the show and get the rest.
BREAK POINT IS JOURNEY OVER 10 TO 12 YEARS. IT HAS THE STORY OF LEANDER AND ME AND OF HOW WE CAME TOGETHER AND HOW MUCH HARD WORK WE PUT. IT ALSO ACCOUNTS FOR THE SUCCESSES AND THE HEARTBREAKS, THE SPLITS WE HAVE HAD IN BETWEEN. SO YEAH, IT HAS BEEN A PRETTY EMOTIONAL 18 MONTHS OF PUTTING THIS TOGETHER.
WHAT WAS YOUR EXPERIENCE ON THE FIELD AND NOW BEFORE THE CAMERAS?
I’m a tennis player. I’m not a film star. So 99% of my career has been playing tennis and other sports. This docudrama series was done after long contemplation. I don’t think there should be any comparison between sports and film.
WOULD A FEATURE FILM HAVE WORKED BETTER?
In a feature film you have to romanticise and fictionalise it. Here we are doing a pure narrative and it’s about facts. There is no fiction and everyone is talking from their perspective on how they saw everything unfold.
DO YOU THINK THE TIMING OF THE SHOW IS RIGHT, POST THE TOKYO OLYMPICS?
Honestly, I don’t know what the right time is. Wimbledon would have been best because that’s synonymous with us. Everyone is fixated on cricket in our country and that’s the nature of the beast, but I think it’s good that there are better performers in other sports, which brings eyeballs to other sports as well and helps sports in general.
WE ALL LEARN FROM OUR SUCCESSES AND FAILURES. YOUR TAKE?
I am very proud of the career that I have had. While growing up, I dreamed of becoming a Tennis player. I don’t think at any point I dreamed that I would have Wimbledon titles to my name. We were happy collectively and individually, thrilled about whatever we were able to achieve.
WHICH QUALITY OF LEANDER DO YOU LOOK UP TO AS A PLAYER? WHICH TRAITS UPSET YOU THE MOST?
As a player, I look up to his ability to raise the quality of the game that he plays for the country, which is something extremely unique. What I get upset with the most?
You will see that on Oct 1st on Zee 5.
HOW WAS YOUR COMFORT LEVEL REUNITING FOR BREAK POINT?
“I’m a tennis player. So 99% of my career has been playing tennis and other sports. This docu-drama series was done after long contemplation. I don’t think there should be any comparison between sports and film.”
Whenever Leander and I reunite, we reunite very positively.