Sachin Tendulkar reveals that he initially refused to act in his own biopic

What’s the story?

It’s only a matter of days before Sachin: A Billion Dreams hits the big screens and the whole of India will be eager to witness the remarkable life and story of the Master Blaster. Tendulkar spoke to PTI regarding the movie, saying that he wasn’t willing to act in the movie when he was first approached by Ravi Bhagchandka, the producer of the film.

“When Ravi (Bhagchandka, producer) met me in 2012, his idea was that the life of other sports personalities have been covered so there should be a film on my life. My first reply was: ‘But I am not going to act’. It took me a while to say yes.”

Tendulkar also added, “In my case, it (fiction) cannot be possible because everything is real life. Everyone knows what has happened to me. If I have scored 55 runs, people know that. I cannot turn around and make it 155. Ravi said everything would be captured from real life. So I was convinced that there would be no retakes here.”

In case you didn’t know...

Sports biopics have become an integral part of Indian cinema these days especially with the success of “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”, “Mary Kom”, and “MS Dhoni: The Untold Story”. Sachin: A Billion Dreams is bound to be another tremendous hit in the Box Office as the iconic batsman is a very popular figure not only in India but around the world.

The heart of the matter

Sachin: A Billion Dreams was in the pipeline for almost five years and is all set for its international release on May 26. This movie will see Tendulkar play himself and his wife and kids playing themselves. Sachin’s long-time opening partner Virender Sehwag will also star in the movie and so will Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

The movie has been written and directed by James Erskine, a British filmmaker and has been produced by Ravi Bhagchandka and Carnival Motion Pictures under 200 NotOut Productions. Since Sachin has such a huge fan following all over India, the film will be released in five languages – Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, and Marathi.

What’s next?

With the movie all set to be released on the 26^th, we can expect Sachin’s fans to arrive in numbers, but this time at the movie theatres instead of the stadium.

Author’s Take

Considering Sachin’s shy nature, it is not surprising that he did not come on board initially. However, his decision to change his mind and accept the challenge is good news for Indian cricket fans seeing as no actor could ever do justice to the role of the Master Blaster other than the legendary cricketer himself.