Deepika Padukone might replace Shraddha Kapoor in Saina Nehwal biopic

What’s the story?

Until now, Shraddha Kapoor was supposed to play the title role in badminton star Saina Nehwal’s upcoming biopic. However, if reports are to be believed, Deepika Padukone, daughter of former All England Badminton champion Prakash Padukone, is set to replace Shraddha for the role.

According to a report in the Deccan Chronicle, a source revealed that the producers believe that the film needs a ‘heftier star-power’.

“It needs a heftier star-power. The producers are apparently trying to re-cast the project with Deepika Padukone in the lead. Her father was a badminton champ and she plays the game pretty well herself,” the source was quoted.

In case you didn’t know…

Earlier last year, a biopic on Saina Nehwal, an Olympic medal-winning shuttler, was announced. Amole Gupte is directing the film which is being produced by Bhushan Kumar.

Recent reports, though, had suggested that the project had hit a roadblock.

The heart of the matter

Shraddha Kapoor is going through a rough patch in recent times. Last year, she had three releases, OK Jaanu, Half Girlfriend and Haseena Parkar and apart from Half Girlfriend, none of her films worked well at the box-office.

After a disappointing year, Shraddha, who is Shakti Kapoor’s daughter, was looking forward to the upcoming biopic on Saina. In fact, she had even started prepping for her role in the movie.

However, the makers of the film now think that Shraddha is not a big enough name to draw in the masses. They believe that the film is no longer financially feasible with her in the lead and have now turned their attention to Deepika, who is also a former national level badminton player.

What’s next?

It remains to be seen how things fall into place in the coming days. Meanwhile, Deepika has two films releasing down the line, one of them being the 25th January release, Padmavat.

Author’s take

Although Shraddha’s resemblance with Saina had made her the first choice for the role, Deepika always seemed more suited to the role because of her badminton background.