Juhi Chakraborty (HINDUSTAN TIMES; February 16, 2020)

Sports biopics are the flavour of the season and actor Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor is ready with his next — a film based on the life of Arjuna Awardee and Padma Bhushan, shooter Abhinav Bindra, the only Indian (individual) to have won a gold at the Olympics (Beijing; 2008). The actor first came across Abhinav’s autobiography — A Shot At History — while he was prepping for Bhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018), and he felt that this story should be told to the world.

“Any biopic brings a certain amount of pressure because you’ve to do justice to their story and legacy. But, it’s also an honour to get to do that and I hope we do well,” says Harsh.

It’s no mean feat to play a popular sportsperson on screen, and the 29-year-old has been on top of things to prep for his role in the film that will be directed by Heeraz Marfatia, who shot to fame in 2002 after earning an Oscar nomination for his short film, Birju, and more recently, he wrote Kabir Khan’s web series, The Forgotten Army.

“Abhinav needed not just skills, but also strength of mind and spirit, a singularity of vision, which can be isolating. These vulnerabilities are a part of his success story. To me, it’s been such a revelation to explore that with Abhinav,” explains Harsh.

Being written by Saiwyn Quadras, who has earlier transformed autobiographies into cinematic experiences with Mary Kom (2014), Neerja (2016), the film goes into production from mid-2020.

Joining Harsh in the film is his father, Anil Kapoor, essaying the role of Abhinav’s father, Apjit Bindra. Incidentally, after Harsh’s interest in the subject, Anil himself secured the rights to make the film, which he also co-produces.

“It’s surreal to think that there was a time he’d go to the movies with me, and now, he’ll be acting in one with me. It’s something I’ve been looking forward to because I love working with my kids. Also, this biopic talks hugely about the father-son bond, so I think it’ll be easy to get into the skin of the characters,” Anil says.

Talking about the research that has gone into the film, the 63-year-old actor reveals spending a lot of time digging deep into Abhinav’s journey to understand the way his story unfolded. “But for me, it was important to understand his father’s perspective, and the consequences of Abhinav’s decisions and choices on the family. A father-son bond is a very delicate matter, so I spent a lot of time with Apjit ji to understand the foundations of their relationship,” adds Anil.