Parineeti Chopra is getting ready for her next film directed by the Amole Gupte about Olympic medalist in badminton Saina Nehwal. Parineeti has immersed herself in prep for the role and has been training hard to play the badminton powerhouse.
“I’ve put all my energies prepping for this role, something I’ve never done for the 10-12 films that I’ve worked in previously and in the process I have finally discovered the person I am and the actor. I’m really excited to start Saina. I think it will be a life-changing experience,” says the actress.
Parineeti has been practising for the last six months to step into the shoes of the Olympian shuttler, taking her coach Eshan Naqvi with her to London. Eshan’s seniors from various academies in Mumbai have also been training Parineeti, including Shrikant Vad who was Saina’s first mentor from Mumbai, back in 1998 when she was training at the Syed Modi Badminton Academy which he runs. What is cool is that Parineeti has been training on the same court in Thane. She has dedicated two hours a day to the sport with the best of the coaches at the academy and the Khar Gymkhana to ensure that she looks convincing playing badminton on-screen.
Praising his star, Amole Gupte, the director said, “I have netted a really good talent who has the acting prowess to play Saina.”
A beaming Gupte adds, “I had met Saina when she was in Mumbai for Father’s Day and when it was mentioned that Parineeti would be playing her on-screen, she was really excited. I concur with her.”
About why he chose to make this film, Gupte revealed that when in 2015, Saina became the World number 1, a few months later, on August 15, Amole started reading her autobiography. It’s taken him four years to bring her story to the screen but as the director points out, with time the team’s vision has become bigger while their take on the story has also matured.
Bhushan Kumar (Tseries), who is producing the film with Krishan Kumar, says he has seen several clips of Parineeti’s training and she is doing a fabulous job. He also revealed when the film will go to the floor, “On October 11, we roll, and Parineeti will juggle between her shoots and practice to keep her game up.”
“The first day’s shoot will be at the International Institute of Sports Management, Nilesh Kulkarni’s institution where of the 600 students, 85 per cent are national or state level players. “In the first scene, Parineeti as Saina will be answering questions from the fraternity, including journalists, students and sports management people,” says the director.
The film will be shot over the next four months. With the 2020 Olympics scheduled for July, is there a plan to release the film around the time? “I make films for a family audience and for that I need children to be free, be it the summer or Diwali vacation. While we have not locked a date, I’m focused to deliver the film by summer next year,” Amole signs off.
We will have more about this exciting film so watch this space!
