The actor features in another biopic, on Paralympic gold medallist Murlikant Petkar, to be penned by Prashant Singh and presented by Shekhar Kapur
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 1, 2016)



Neeraj Pandey's Sushant Singh Rajput starrer-M S Dhoni: The Untold Story is yet to hit theatres, but the actor has already signed up for another biopic. Mirror has learnt that the Kai Po Che! star has started working on a film that will chronicle the life of athlete Murlikant Petkar, who won a gold at the Commonwealth Games in 1970 and the Paralympics in Germany in 1972. The army man-turned-sportsman went on to set a world record in the 50m freestyle swimming and, at the same games, participated in javelin, precision javelin throw and slalom. He was a finalist in all three events.

Tentatively titled Murli - The Unsung Hero, the Prashant Singh scripted-biopic is slated to roll by mid 2017. Recalling how the project fell into place, the film journalist-turned-script writer revealed that a chance encounter with the actor set the ball rolling. "It was amazing to have Sushant come on board immediately," Prashant says, adding that even Petkar was delighted about having Sushant fill his shoes, when he was informed about thee casting. "Even though other actors and filmmakers were keen to acquire the rights to Murli sir's journey, he zeroed in on Sushant since he confessed to being a fan of the actor," reminisced Prashant. "Murli sir has lived an unbelievable journey. If someone had written this as a fictional story, the writer would've definitely been laughed at," Prashant smiles.

Sushant, who will be training in swimming, boxing and other combat sports as part of his prep, is equally excited. "I was amazed by his journey and immediately agreed that these stories need to be told. Petkar's journey is extra-ordinary and so compelling that it can change many lives by motivating people to accomplish the unthinkable. I am extremely excited to be associated with this project from its nascent stage," says the actor.

When contacted, Murli told Mirror, "It is an honour that a famous star like Sushant has shown interest in portraying me on screen. Till date, many people met me with lots of promises but nothing came of it."

Petkar himself admits to have lived a an enthralling life. At 12, he ran away from home and survived a violent mob who wanted to lynch him. He learnt life skills by hanging out with a few men from the Indian army, before he became a fierce boxing champion for the army and mercilessly beating six opponents in Tokyo.

"The film will touch upon incidents in his life that range from his road trip to Kashmir to being shot by seven bullets in the 1965 war against Pakistan. In fact, a bullet is still in his spine! Left a paraplegic, young Petkar tried to commit suicide, but survived that too and finally won the Paralympic gold," Prashant informs.

In 2013, Sushant had been signed as the leading man of Shekhar Kapur's ambitious futuristic drama about water wars in India, Paani, but the film never took off due to several reasons. But this has not dampened the relationship between the filmmaker and actor. In fact, the Award winning Bandit Queen-director has come on-board to help the unit hunt for the perfect director to helm the project and Kapur will also be presenting the biopic.