In a bid to add drama to biopics, Bollywood filmmakers have been ruffling feathers and facing legal wrangles
Mohar Basu (MID-DAY; January 8, 2017)

Biopics are the flavour of the season in Bollywood. Real-life sagas are being narrated - well almost - as the plot usually has a dollop of fiction too. Sarabjeet Singh's sister, Dalbir Kaur, welcomed the cast of Omung Kumar's Sarbjit (2016) - Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Randeep Hooda and Richa Chadha - into her home. Ditto with the Bhanots, Akhil and Aneesh, who rediscovered the spirit of their braveheart sister, slain PanAm airhostess Neerja Bhanot, when Sonam Kapoor played her part in Ram Madhvani's Neerja (2016).

But these are instances of bonafide biopics.

Unfulfilled promises

What about a film like the Salman Khan-starrer Sultan (2016)? Right after the film released in July, Mohammad Sabir Ansari alias Sabir Baba, a resident of Muzaffarpur, filed a petition in the chief judicial magistrate's court on grounds of cheating. He claimed Salman had promised to give him Rs 20 crore as royalty for making a film based on his life.

According to Ansari's lawyer Sudhir Ojha, the case is currently pending. "Salman had met him in 2010. The meeting went well and Salman was convinced he wants to make a movie on his life. He has not kept his part of the promise. The man deserves his royalty and he must be given. We will see this till the end," says Ojha.


Not balanced

On a similar note, Raees, based on the life of Ahmedabad gangster Abdul Latif Shaikh hasn't gone down well with his kin. The major bone of contention was that the makers had approached the family for information on him, but his portrayal is lopsided and doesn't mention his philanthropic work. Shaikh's son Mushtaq has filed a Rs 100-crore defamation case that is pending in the Gujarat High Court. Besides, his bootlegging activities and the claims of him running a brothel, the local community has also taken objection to the way women of Daryapuri have been portrayed. The production house, in a statement, clarified, "It is a pure work of fiction and is not based on any person; living or dead. It is an imagined crime thriller set against the backdrop of Gujarat."

Mushtaq retorted to this saying, "I've watched the film's trailer, and what they (makers) say doesn't matter. It is clearly based on my father's life."

After watching Neeraj Pandey's biopic M S Dhoni - The Untold Story made on his life, Captain Cool was moved to tears. Soon after the screening, Dhoni told the press, "Sushant Singh Rajput has completely imitated me. From the way I talk, to the way I walk, he has done an exceptional job. When we talk about cricket specifically, he practiced the game for months, for almost three hours every day. He could play cricket as well as me."

The recent Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal is based on the life of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat. According to Aamir the film focusses on liberation of young girls than on the sport itself. Says Geeta Phogat told us, "I'm happy with the way the film has turned out. It was emotional for us to see our lives on screen. Aamir sir and the girls (Fatima Sana Sheikh and Sanya Malhotra) have portrayed our story beautifully. It seemed like I was watching myself." Babita, too, echoed her sister's sentiments. "It was an emotional moment, not just for me and Geeta, but for the entire family. Imagine you are sitting in a theatre and watching a movie about your life. These are things dreams are made of. The final sequence was shot really well. The national anthem in the end gave us goosebumps."

Of course, not everyone is happy even with Dangal. The fictionalised life account of the Phogats ended up showing PR Sondhi in a bad light. The wrestling coach had trained Geeta for the Commonwealth Games. Though, he is yet to touch base with Aamir, he says, "Distortion of facts has hurt my reputation. I should've been told how they intended to portray this character."

This year, there's another biopic in order. Arunachalam Muruganantham, better known as Menstrual Man, who is counted amongst India's top thinking minds. Akshay Kumar is all set to play him in R Balki's Pad Man. In 1998, Muruganantham had sparked off a revolution when he developed, after much derision and social censure, a low-cost sanitary napkin manufacturing machine. The machine is installed in 23 states.

Though he isn't ashamed to admit that he wanted to give the rights of his story to someone in Hollywood, so the film reaches a wider audience, he didn't have the heart to turn down Twinkle Khanna (who turns producer with this movie). Says Muruganantham, "I am proud that for the first time in world cinema history, a mainstream male star will talk about menstruation and sanitary napkins in a movie. The theme is universal. A full fledged feature film will be a game changer."

Aamir Khan responds to national wrestling coach’s allegations about negative portrayal of his character in the superhit film
MID-DAY (December 30, 2016)

Two days ago, we had reported how national wrestling coach P R Sondhi had taken offense to portrayal of his character in Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal. He had told us that he would like to meet the star and seek an explanation.

Yesterday, the superstar responded to Sondhi’s comments, saying, “in every biopic, a little fiction is added, but the essence of their story is kept intact.”

Expressing his displeasure, Sondhi had told hitlist he was aware that the makers add fictional events to make a film entertaining, but it should not have been at his expense. “Distortion of facts has hurt my reputation. I don’t understand the need to show the character as such a heartless taskmaster. There were four other coaches, who were also involved [in the training], but they haven’t been shown in the film at all.”

Despite stellar performance by the entire cast, Dangal has seen its share of controversy. Prior to its release, there were demands from certain right-wing groups to boycott the movie due to Aamir’s intolerance remarks last year.

National coach PR Sondhi, who’s the anti-hero in Aamir’s piece, upset with portrayal of his character in hit film
Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; December 28, 2016)

Aamir Khan-starrer Dangal may have won over critics, movie buffs as well as grapplers, but former wrestling coach P R Sondhi is hardly amused.

The man, who had trained the Phogat sisters ahead of their participation in the 2010 Commonwealth Games, is miffed with the makers for showing a character modelled after him in a negative light.

Sondhi says he is aware that few fictional events were added to make the film entertaining, but it should not have been at his expense. “They have changed the name to PR Kadam in the film, but somewhere the character is loosely based on my life. I have known Mahavirji (Phogat, wrestling coach and father of Geeta and Babita Phogat) for many years and he is a thorough gentleman. His two daughters have trained under me for more than three years and not once did he interfere. I don’t understand the need to show the character as such a taskmaster. There were four other coaches, who were also involved [in the training], but they haven’t been shown in the film at all,” he says.

The 70-year-old argues the film’s final scene is purely fictional — the coach is seen locking Mahavir in a room during the Games so that he is not able to cheer for his daughter. “Distortion of facts has hurt my reputation. Once I watch the film, I will speak to the wrestling federation. I also plan to meet Aamir and seek an explanation.”

Sondhi met Aamir in Ludhiana when he was shooting for the film there. “Kripashankar Patel Bishnoi, who trained Aamir for Dangal, has been my student. When we all met, Aamir asked me general questions about wrestling, but not once did he discuss anything about the film. He should have told me how they were planning to portray the coach’s character,” he says.