Athlete Neeraj Chopra charted history at the Tokyo Olympics by becoming the first track and field athlete to win an Olympic gold for India. Earlier athletes Milkha Singh and PT Usha had narrowly missed the honour. He won the men’s javelin throw with a final throw of 87.58 metres.
Indian sports and Bollywood converge at biopics of our favourite sportspersons and Neeraj Chopra became the nation's pride, permanently etching his name into history. In a 2018 interview with The Quint, fresh off his win at the Asian Games, where he set a new national record, Neeraj Chopra named the actors he wishes would play him in a biopic.
When asked which actor would portray the Olympic medallist in a biopic, Neeraj said in Hindi, “It’ll be great if a biopic is made. The people I like are Randeep Hooda from Haryana, and Akshay Kumar in Bollywood.”
Indian cinema has churned out several impressive sports biopics over the years including Saand Ki Aankh, MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Dangal, and Saina.
There are also multiple biopics in the works including Ranveer Singh starrer 83 which chronicles the journey of cricketer Kapil Dev who led India to a World Cup win. Taapsee Pannu also stars in Shabaash Mithu, based on the life of cricketer Mithali Raj.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)