What’s the story?
Bollywood star Abhishek Bachchan has offered to make a biopic on India’s basketball star Satnam Singh but only if he goes on to win an NBA title. ‘Junior Bachchan’ as he is fondly called, is known to have a penchant for sports and has already invested heavily in sports like Kabaddi and Football. And this just goes to show his love for sports even further.
The star from the film “Guru”, is active on the Indian sports scene, having ownership stakes in the Jaipur Pink Panthers of the Pro Kabaddi League as well as in Chennaiyin FC, who were th champions of the Indian Super League in 2015.
In case you didn’t know...
Satnam Singh became the first Indian basketball player to be drafted in the NBA when he was picked by the Dallas Mavericks in the 2015 NBA draft with the 52nd pick. Satnam, however, hasn't so far been able to make the Mavericks roster and has had to do with a bit part playing time for their D-League affiliate, the Texas Legends.
His story of rags to riches from the little known Punjabi village of Ballo Ke, however, has caught the imagination of the American people. His amazing journey was in fact caught in a recent Netflix documentary, One in a Billion.
The heart of the matter
A few days ago, Satnam had stated that one of either Akshay Kumar or Abhishek Bachchan would be most apt to play his character if a biopic was made on his life.
On getting to know about this, Abhishek Bachchan, took to Twitter to state that he would honoured to do the same, provided that the youngster goes on to win an NBA Championship. The Bollywood star is known to be a fan of the NBA with the Los Angeles Lakers particularly close to his heart.
He was in fact, the one and only Indian to have ever to take part in the NBA All-Star celebrity game in 2015. Bachchan was also the ambassador of the NBA Store in India and is known to have high hopes regarding the growth of the game in the country.
What next?
The challenge will be a huge one for both Satnam Singh as well as Abhishek Bachchan. Satnam Singh is yet to play in the NBA, and even with all the potential that he has, it’s hard to foresee him being a future star in the league. Thus, the best possible way for him to win an NBA ring would be if the perfect opportunity presents itself and he is able to complement a championship team as a fringe player.
Abhishek Bachchan, however, will have a steep challenge on his hands as well if Satnam actually delivers. Bachchan is 40 years old and 6’2” with very limited basketball skills (as apparent from his display at the NBA all-star weekend performance). Satnam, on the other hand, is 7’1”.
Sportskeeda’s take
It’s certainly a noble gesture from Abhishek Bachchan to state that he will waiving off any fees to do the film if it ever comes to that. Additionally, the Bollywood star has also given Satnam Singh a real goal to achieve – one that should be a real challenge for the youngster. And thus we have a real win-win situation on our hands.
