Dhyan Chand biopic film on hockey wizard expected in 2022
The eponymous movie is being produced by Ronnie Screwvala. The casting is still undecided.
Three-time Olympic gold medallist Dhyan Chand is all set to be born again on the silver screen.
Titled ‘Dhyan Chand’, the biopic on the Indian hockey legend, will go to production from next year and is expected to hit the theatres in 2022. The actors are yet to be named.
To be produced by well-known media entrepreneur Ronnie Screwvala, the Bollywood film will be directed by Abhishek Chaubey, who has co-written the screenplay.
Dhyan Chand’s son Ashok Kumar, an Olympic medallist and a World Cup winner, was understandably drawn by the filmmakers’ passion for the project.
“There is no better hockey player to date in the world like three-time Olympic gold medallist Dhyan Chand,” Ashok Kumar said. “The genius of Dhyan Chand and his achievements will be seen by the world and my family and I are thrilled to be part of this.”
“Dhyan Chand is the biggest icon of Indian sports, whom the youth of today, unfortunately, don’t know much about,” Ronnie Screwvala said.
“There couldn’t have been a greater underdog story than Dhyan Chand’s and I can’t wait to bring this film to the audiences.”
This will be the second sports biopic produced by Ronnie Screwvala after Paan Singh Tomar, an eponymous movie on the national steeplechase champion from the 1950s and 1960s.
Hailed as perhaps the greatest Indian hockey player, Dhyan Chand was instrumental in India winning three straight gold medals at the Olympic Games - in 1928, 1932 and 1936. He was captain of the Indian hockey team at the Berlin Games.
Known for his ball control, Dhyan Chand was a prolific scorer and was often referred to as the 'Hockey Wizard' and 'The Magician'. He was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award, India's third-highest civilian honour, in 1956 and the National Sports Day in India is celebrated on his birthday on August 29. He died in 1979 at the age of 74.
“Dhyan Chand is one of the greatest hockey players in the history of the sport, and it’s a matter of pride to direct his biopic,” Abhishek Chaubey said. “We had massive amounts of research material in hand, and honestly, every achievement of his life deserves a separate story in itself.”
Dhyan Chand’s movie follows the biopic on India’s first female Olympic medallist Karnam Malleswari, which is also in the pipeline.
Previous Indian sports biopics include Mary Kom, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag (based on Milkha Singh), and Soorma (based on hockey player Sandeep Singh) among others.