MUMBAI: After Milkha Singh, Mary Kom, M.S. Dhoni and Mahavir Singh Phogat, yet another sportsperson, Indian badminton champion Saina Nehwal, will be honored with a biopic. Mumbai-based Front Foot Pictures Pvt. Ltd. has acquired the rights to make the film that will be written and directed by Amole Gupte.
Front Foot director Sujay Jairaj and his team, with Gupte, recently met Nehwal and her family in Hyderabad for nearly three hours. Said Gupte, “It was like meeting a goddess, and her family is so excited about the biopic. This film is going to trace Saina’s journey on her way to the top of the sports pyramid.”
Gupte raves about the Nehwal family. “What gracious hosts the Nehwals are!” he said. “The hand that rocked Saina’s cradle fed us hot parathas, sabzi and dahi, the flavor of which I have carried all the way back to Mumbai.”
He added, “How many times have we encountered either a male or a female Indian get prime ranking in a world sport? That makes this film different, doesn’t it? It’s a story of a tigress beti who has set fire to the badminton court with her prowess like no one else before. The nation needs to know the story of this icon for the young and the old for a long time to come,” he added.
Nehwal, 25, is the first Indian to win a medal in badminton at the Olympics. She is also the first Indian after Prakash Padukone and the first Indian woman to be ranked as a World Number 1 Singles player. She is also the first Indian to win the World Junior Badminton Championships and a Super Series tournament and is now gearing up for her next Olympics in 2016.
Gupte wears many hats — that of writer, director, producer, child rights activist and actor. As a filmmaker, he has been lauded for his work with children and integrates a strong sense of social commentary in his films.
Front Foot Pictures Pvt. Ltd. is a content creation company that is focused on creating world-class sports content, ranging from films, television, web and mobile. The company is headed by Jairaj, who himself is a keen badminton player and has played at the national level.