Bollywood actor Akshay Kumar is set to play the role of legendary Hockey player Balbir Singh in the proposed film based on India’s first Olympic triumph at the 1948 London Olympics. Termed as “Gold”, the movie will be directed by Reema Kagti whom we have seen in the moviemaking role of big banner films like “Honeymoon Travels Pvt.Ltd’ and Aamir Khan Starrer “Talaash.”
Balbir Singh was a part of the 1948 London Olympics team, is an iconic figure in the history of the Indian hockey. His world record of scoring the most number of individual goals in an Olympic Men’s hockey final is still not beaten, having scored 5 goals in the 1952 Olympic Gold medal match in which India won 6-1 against the Netherlands.
Also read: Salman Khan's sister to produce the film on India's 1983 World Cup triumph
This will be the first time that Akshay Kumar will be working with Farhan Akhtar’s production house, Excel Entertainment. Legendary player Balbir Singh will be the main focus of the film and is currently in the pre-production stage and is expected to hit the floors in the latter half of 2017.
In the past couple of years, sports-based films are becoming quite popular in the reckoning in the likes of Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, Mary Kom, Azhar and most recently the flick based on Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Recently, it was confirmed that a movie based on India’s 1983 cricket world cup win will be made, portraying the heroics of players like Kapil Dev, Mohinder Amarnath and Syed Kirmani.
Also read: India hockey coach Roelant Oltmans to remain in charge till 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Meanwhile, Aamir Khan is all set to come up with his new film ‘Dangal’ which is based on the life of Mahavir Singh Phogat who taught her daughters Geeta Phogat and Babita Kumari wrestling against all odds and encouraged them to be professional wrestlers. Babita Kumari became the final entry from India in Women’s wrestling at the 2016 Rio Olympics, she qualified after her opponent failed a dope test in the qualifying rounds, but she lost in the first round to Maria Prevolaraki of Greece.
Previously, a film on hockey, “Chak de India” starring Shah Rukh Khan became a blockbuster and got critical appreciation from the entire industry. However, only time will tell whether “GOLD” will live up to its expectations or not.
