BENGALURU: R Gopinath, popularly known as Captain Gopinath, was on his regular evening walk on July 22, when he started getting calls with congratulatory messages. It was a pleasant surprise for him that Soorarai Pottru had won five national awards.
Unlike many of us who would have cut short the evening walk to celebrate the win, the 70-year-old visionary did some extra rounds that evening. The movie, which is based on his book ‘Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey,’ won the best actor, best actress, best feature film, best original screenplay, and best background music, dominating the major categories this year.
“I am particularly happy because the award is an indication of the essence of the book that I wrote, the stories of Air Deccan, and the possibilities of a new India. This story was the spirit of triumph over adversity. The movie brought out the essence of the book very well.
Of course, it is heavily fictionalised, but the story was inspired by my book and the story of Air Deccan,” says Gopinath. He revealed that during the shoot, Suriya, who plays him in the movie, was in touch with him to understand the character. “Suriya did a wonderful job. We had multiple discussions so that he could really get into the skin of the character, and I think the team put in a great effort,” he adds.
The movie was released on November 20, 2020. “It was released during the peak of the pandemic, at a time when many people had lost their jobs and the lower income groups went through tough times. Despite the many things that could go wrong, the movie shows that one should not be cynical while facing adversity. Sometimes, the most courageous of us will also lose hope.
The story shows that losing hope is not the answer,” says the retired captain of the Indian Army. Another fact that impressed Gopinath was that the wife’s role in the movie, played by Aparna Balamurali, had a strong presence. “Generally, in films, the hero is given more importance than the heroine, but in this case, the director of the movie, Sudha Kongara Prasad, brought in a story for the heroine as well, and the actor portrayed it very well.”
The character Bommi, in the movie, was inspired by Gopinath’s wife Bharghavi Gopinath, who established a bakery, Bun World in Malleswaram, and has been running it for the past 26 years. “It is a lot of hard work and it is a great story which complements the hero’s story perfectly,” he adds.
Tamil movie Soorarai Pottru, inspired by Captain Gopinath’s Air Deccan story, bags five national awards this year. The founder of the low-cost airline discusses his conversations with the actors and his take on the film