If you were one of those who sighed with
happiness and swooned a little when Sachin Tendulkar declared 'Boost is the
secret of my energy' holding up a mug and smiling ear-to-ear, you're about to
read the best thing ever now.
The cricketer, who retired from all forms of
cricket last year, is reportedly set to play himself in a biopic that will hit
2,000 screens across the world in the near future.
According to a report on The Times of India, a Mumbai-based production
company 200 Not Out has acquired the rights to make the film for World Sports
Group (WSG).
"It has roped in James Erskine, a London-based award-winning writer,
director and producer, to direct the film. WSG manages Tendulkar's brand and
commercial interests across the world. The work on the movie started a year ago
and is presently being shot in real-time. Many personalities across the world
are also contributing to it," the
report states.
While you would think that there's hardly
anything you don't know about the star's life - he has led a mostly
non-controversial life, according to the media - the film promises to show you
aspects of his life no one has ever heard of. That bit might pique the
audience's interest, given that the only wildly exciting bit about his
life has to do with how good he is at his sport. Also, if the Bollywood formula
for sports films are anything to go by, Tendulkar's life as a cricketer
who came to be worshipped by the country has been a more or less smooth ride -
thanks to the talented batsman he is.
But his fans should be warned that they should
not get their hopes too high from this endeavour.
If his autobiography is anything to go by, his
life might not be the most exciting thing to watch on big screen.
As Firstpost's sports editor Ashish Magotra notes
in his review of his autobiography, the cricketer is quite a safe-player when
it comes to matters of his personal life or opinions on burning issues in the
country.
He points out how Sachin says next to nothing
about the fixing scandal which left tongues wagging and had a nation in shock
in the prime of his career.
"There is not a single mention of the
match-fixing scandal that almost destroyed cricket. He explained his stand in a
meet with senior editors: "The things I am unaware of fully,
it would be unwise to comment on those. I should have some evidence, I should
know details to talk about it. To put it simply, Sachin is saying that everyone
was fixing around him but he knew nothing about it. Okay, that is believable
but what about his reaction when the scandal broke -- how did he feel, how did
the team feel, how did the fans react? Or even what were the words he and
Mohammad Azharuddin exchanged when they met for the first time after the fixing
scandal broke all those years back? It all seems to suggest that for Sachin it
was a non-event of sorts; an event not important enough to be included in his
autobiography."
Apart from the concerns about how interesting
it would be to even make a biopic on Tendulkar's mostly
non-controversial life, there are of course, the concerns about him making
the cut as an actor. If his track record in commercials and various
endorsements is anything to go by we know one thing - guy can memorise his
lines.
Also, given that he is Sachin Tendulkar,
all he was required to do is smile at the cameras. But he is no
charismatic Virat Kohli in front of the camera, neither has he experimented
much with looks and characters like a Mahendra Singh Dhoni has. That's a
quality that probably ties Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly together - their
awkwardness before the camera. One has to point out here that, his discomfort
with the camera has not really stopped Ganguly from hosting a popular game show
on TV in Kolkata. Maybe, Tendulkar can look to him for confidence.
His fans can only hope that
Tendulkar's acting career takes off to a flying start and doesn't revive
memories of Ajay Jadeja, Vinod Kambli and Salil Ankola
trying to make it in Bollywood. Because those memories can be scarring!