The Bollywood biopic on Saina Nehwal has been in the works for quite some time. Initially, it was Shraddha Kapoor who was chosen to play the role of India's badminton queen. Despite having started work on the movie, Kapoor had to pull out of the project as there were other projects in her kitty.
This caused delay in the schedule of the movie. Earlier this year, the replacement for Shraddha was announced. It was going to be Parineeti Chopra who had taken up the challenge of essaying the character of Olympic bronze-medal winning Indian shuttler.
On October 7, Both Saina Nehwal herself and Bhushan Kumar, the producer of the film, shared a picture of Parineeti Chopra in her character as the national champion. In this very interesting picture, the Bollywood actress is seen in the pose of a player about to serve.
While Kapoor managed to achieve a greater affinity in terms of her look with Saina, Parineeti also doesn't seem out of place. Her eyes convey intense focus and her hair are done in the ponytail style which Saina has donned for many years.
Apart from the photo, the tweet also revealed the date on which the shooting of the film is going to start again – October 11. The director of the movie is Amole Gupte. The current expectation for the release date is somewhere in the first part of 2020.
On October 3, Parineeti had tweeted a picture of herself sitting on the floor of a badminton court, wiping off the sweat from her neck after, apparently, a session of training for the movie. She had written "Me. All day everyday nowadays." Nehwal had replied to her by saying "Killer look."
But here is a question for all the fans of Bollywood and badminton: Which actress looks more like Saina – Shraddha or Parineeti. Of course, facial affinity isn't always given the preference by Bollywood producers. Remember how Priyanka Chopra was cast in the role of Mary Kom despite having almost no similarity to the world champion boxer, in stature or in looks.
What would be more important in the movie is how the producers and directors treat the subject of Nehwal's life. Are they going to add the typical Bollywood masala to the story as has been done with almost every biopic that has been made in recent years by the industry?
Hopefully, we would see Gupte and Kumar do a better job in dramatizing Nehwal's life story. Parineeti is an actress who has proven her mettle with some good performances in the past. Going by her picture, she will do justice to this role as well.
