cineTALK

Biopics Galore

are pumped up about playing real life characters. One-film-old actress Janhvi Kapoor has reportedly taken up a biopic on Gunjan Saxena, an Indian Air Force combat pilot.

What about the men, you ask?

Oh yes, that trend looks set to continue, after Milkha Singh, MS Dhoni, Sanjay Dutt….

Shah Rukh Khan is set to play India’s first cosmonaut Rakesh Sharma in producers Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Saare Jahaan Se Accha. Sharma flew on board a Soyuz spacecraft in 1984 as part of a Soviet Interkosmos mission. His daring flight fired up the imagination of an entire generation and when asked by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, what India looks like from space, Sharma had uttered the now iconic words: "Saare jahaan se accha".

In the recent past, inspirational stories of sport stars like Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Milkha Singh, and freedom fighters such as Subhas Chandra Bose and Bhagat Singh, have been told on the big screen. Soon, cinema halls will be taken over by biopics on women achievers, starting with Kangana Ranaut's Manikarnika - The Queen of Jhansi based on the warrior queen.

Trade analysts are quietly confident that Manikarnika will hit the jackpot at the box office when it releases later this month, no thanks to the popular star in the lead role.

Meanwhile, director Indrajit Lankesh is working away at his biopic on the southern film industry's adult film star Shakeela.

"It is a story about an actress who has seen a life from rags to riches to rags again,” he said of his film, which stars actress Richa Chadha as Shakeela.

Shakeela rose to popularity following the tragic and untimely demise of the legend Silk Smitha.

Richa says it was the story of Shakeela's life, "with all the trials and tribulations", that she found very dramatic.

"When I first heard it, I wondered how it hadn't been adapted into a screenplay already. I am happy I got to act in this movie because I really grew a lot with it," she said.

Interestingly, Shakeela herself makes a cameo appearance in the film.

As well, we have Deepika Padukone who is also set to take the story of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal from real to reel. Deepika has said of this project, "It's a very important story and it's a true-life incident, so hopefully good things will come out of it."

Badminton star Saina Nehwal will come to us on screen looking a lot like Shraddha Kapoor, some time this year. And Jacqueline Fernandez must be pedalling away in training if reports are true that she is set to play ace Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in a film.

Even down south, filmmakers are opening up to the idea of biopics on women. If last year's Mahanati, a film about the rise of female south Indian superstar Savitri, won the hearts of many, people can't stop praising popular south Indian actress Nithya Menen for her look in the new poster of the film The Iron Lady, based on late politician Jayalalithaa.

It's not just established actresses who

And then there’s Ranveer Singh playing Kapil Dev is the film ‘83, based of course on India’s first ever Cricket World Cup win. Buzz is that real-life wife Deepika Padukone might play Kapil’s wife Romi. We will soon be seeing Vivek Oberoi playing Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his biopic (first look revealed on 7 January).

Abhay Deol, who is known for doing different roles, will apparently be seen in a sports film next. According to reports, Abhay has been roped in to play the lead role in a rugby drama tentatively titled Jungle Cry. It will see him reprise the life of rugby coach Rudraksha Jena from Bhubaneshwar, who led an under-14 team to win the International School Rugby Tournament in London in 2007. Apparently Abhay is currently learning the sport.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui as Bal Thackeray – we can’t wait for that one…

Question is, who do you think is best fit to play Virat Kohli, India’s newest phenomenon?