What’s the story?
India’s most successful female tennis star Sania Mirza has recently given hints that a film on her life and storied career might soon be in the making. The former World No. 1 has confirmed in an interview to Al Jazeera that even though nothing concrete has materialised, talks are definitely on about turning her autobiography, ‘Ace Against Odds’ into a film.
“There are some talks going on, but there's nothing concrete right now. I'm a private person, so it is a difficult ask of me to open up completely. There were some parts, even in the book, that were difficult for me to write about,” said the 30-year-old.
In case you didn’t know…
Sports biopics have earned a lot of success in India of late. Films like ‘Mary Kom’, ‘MS Dhoni: The Untold Story’ and Dangal gave fans a chance to know the revered sports personalities of the country and their struggles from up close.
A few such biopics are in the pipeline and are expected to garner the same kind of response. Out of these, the most awaited ones are ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’, ‘Mariyappan’ and a couple of untitled projects on Pullela Gopichand and Saina Nehwal, among others.
The heart of the matter
Mirza has vehemently supported sports biopics in the interview. Since India is a cricket-obsessed nation and most other sports struggle to get the viewership or support that cricket gets, these movies are the only way to educate people about who these sports icons actually are.
Bollywood being the biggest industry in India presents this great opportunity to reach out to the masses and celebrate, the World No. 7 has pointed out.
What’s next?
Mirza has already won one title this year at Brisbane alongside Bethanie Mattek-Sands. However, she is yet to win one with her regular partner, Barbora Strycova. The two made it to the final at Sydney, apart from reaching the semi-finals of back-to-back tournaments at Dubai and Doha recently.
The Indo-Czech pair will hope to end the title drought at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells that is scheduled from 6-19 March.
Sportskeeda’s take
Sania Mirza has been a trailblazer and a pathbreaker for Indian women. She may have earned more laurels on the doubles circuit but even in singles, she broke into the top 30 – something no female star from the country did.
And she had to battle countless obstacles and societal pressure to pursue her dreams. Defiant, determined, never one to shy away from speaking her mind, Mirza is a shining beacon of hope and inspiration for women and her story definitely needs to be told.
