Bindra biopic aims to inspire youngsters to take up shooting as sport

In a country where cricket is a religion, makers of the proposed biopic on World and Olympic champion Abhinav Bindra hope the film will encourage youngsters to consider shooting seriously as a sport.

Bindra became the first Indian to win an individual gold medal at the Olympic Games - he achieved the feat at the quadrennial event held in Beijing in 2008.

Indian target shooters fared pretty well in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Australia.

Young shooters Manu Bhaker and Anish Bhanwala shined in the Gold Coast Games along with experienced marksmen like Heena Sindhu and Tejaswini Sawant.

"This year Indian shooters picked up a lot of gold medals and it is entirely because of Abhinav as he showed the path. His gold medal has inspired entire generation of shooters. Abhinav's achievements are inspiring.

"One of our main motivation to make the film is that more young people should get inspired to take up shooting as a profession. I think Indians can become a world power in shooting," sources close to the makers told PTI.

Bindra is actively involved in the biopic being made on his extraordinary journey, that would have actor Harshvardhan Kapoor playing his part.

"Abhinav is aware of everything that we are doing. Anytime there is a significant development in the script, we run it through him. He is very happy in terms of the way the story has been made," the sources added.

Bollywood filmmakers are smitten by the journey of sports personalities and movies like on former Indian track and field sprinter"Milkha Singh and cricketer M S Dhoni, only reflect the love the Hindi cinema has for sports.

The yet-to-be-titled movie is being adapted from Bindra's autobiography -- 'A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold and Beyond'.

"Ours is a unique biopic, the format of the biopic is different. We can't reveal what is the uniqueness. Though it is adapted from a book, which Abhinav himself has written, but the way it has been adapted it is unique. We are presenting the narrative in a different way. It is not a standard biopic format," the sources said.

When asked can one expect to see Abhinav himself in the film, the sources revealed, "Of course but how we are planning to do it we can't talk about it."
"He (Anil) has spend sometime with Abhinav's father just to get acquainted with the story and pick up nuances for his character. For the father's character there are more Punjabi touches and Anil ji is would be getting it."