What’s the story?
In keeping pace with India’s growing stature as a sporting powerhouse, the country’s national sports channel, DD Sports is gearing up for a revamp this year. The channel has decided to air new programmes which include films on Indian Olympians.
In the pipeline are the stories of six Olympians, namely hockey legend Dhyan Chand, tennis star Leander Paes, Olympic weightlifting bronze medallist Karnam Malleswari, athletics queen PT Usha, boxing champion MC Mary Kom and the current toast of Indian badminton, PV Sindhu. DD Sports is looking to commission films on each of these sporting heroes with a budget earmarked at Rs 12 crore in collaboration with the Department of Sports, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India.
The move is also expected to boost Indian sportspersons ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games, a DD representative told Sportskeeda.
“As we had discussed earlier this year, our goal is to completely replenish the channel's resources. This particular move is with keeping in mind the Commonwealth Games. We want to give our participants a positive boost, especially in tier 2, 3 areas.”
In case you didn’t know….
DD Sports is surely taking a leaf out of the recent success of biopics on Indian athletes. Films like the recently-released ‘Dangal’, ‘Mary Kom’, and ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold story’ have struck a chord with the masses and have helped them get to know the country’s sporting icons better.
India’s celebrated badminton coach Pullela Gopichand and the Indian trailblazer Saina Nehwal too have biopics coming up. However, both of these have stalled.
Also read: 5 sports biopics that India can expect in 2017/18
Sportskeeda has learnt that the film on Gopichand, which is supposed to be made in three languages, has not materialised yet as there has been a disagreement between the coach and the filmmakers due to more focus on the former’s protégé PV Sindhu.
Nehwal’s film too has hit a temporary roadblock as the actress who is to portray the shuttler is yet to be decided.
The heart of the matter
Besides the proposed films, the channel also has plans to produce five sports shows. Not only that, they are also looking to hold sports tutorial classes in an attempt to impart correct knowledge to youngsters.
Three episodes per discipline will be aired in which experts will teach the nitty-gritty of popular sports like cricket, hockey or tennis. The ministry will provide the technical and logistic support to aid the fruition of the project.
Sportskeeda’s take
This is definitely a welcome move from DD Sports. The stories of the struggles and determination of our national heroes will not only serve an educational purpose but will also play a crucial role in developing India’s future in sports. Especially in the rural areas, this can become a huge source of inspiration and can give birth to a lot more budding talent.
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