As reported by several media houses, actor Anushka Sharma was supposed to star in cricketer Jhulan Goswami's upcoming biopic. This was to be Anushka's next big film after the release of Aanand L Rai's Zero in 2018. The biopic on the former captain of the Indian women's cricket team is being produced by Anushka's production house Clean Slate Filmz and directed by Prosit Roy. The film on Jhulan, who is a Padmashri and Arjuna Award recipient and who continues to be the highest wicket taker in Women's One Day International cricket, was scheduled to go on floors this year.
According to a source close to the project, Anushka will no longer play Jhulan Goswami. While the reasons for the actor choosing not to do the film is not known, the project will continue to be produced by Anushka's Clean Slate Filmz and directed by Roy, who helmed Pari with the actor. The news of Anushka doing the Jhulan Goswami biopic came out last year after several photos of Anushkha and Jhulan shooting at the cricket ground at Eden Gardens, Kolkata went viral on the actor's fans' social media pages. Filmmaker Roy was also spotted in some of the photos.
The makers are likely to cast a relatively new actor in the biopic now. The Jhulan Goswami biopic is being bankrolled by Netflix and will explore the cricketer's journey from from her hometown Chakdaha in Nadia district, West Bengal to Lord's where India narrowly lost out on the women's World Cup final to England. Jhulan was named the ICC Women's Player of the Year in 2007.