Abhishek Chaubey to direct the biopic of the hockey legend, Dhyan Chand as his next project. The film will be made under the production houses, Ronnie Screwvala’ RSVP and Premnath Rajagopalan’s Blue Monkey Films. The script has been written by Abhishek and Supratik Sen for more than a year. The casting is not yet decided and a top star is anticipated to play the titular role.
Dhyan Chand is celebrated as “The Wizard” and has represented the Indian Hockey Team from 1925 to 1949 and has scored 1500 plus goals in a total of 185 matches. He played as a center-forward during his entire international career and won 3 Olympic Gold Medals in 1928,1932 and 1936. He was awarded Padma Bhushan in the year 1956 and his birth anniversary is celebrated as National Sports Day, which is on August 29.
Director, Abhishek Chaubey shares, “Dhyan Chand is one of the greatest hockey players in the history of our National Sport, and it’s a matter of pride to direct his biopic. We had a massive amount of research material in hand, and honestly, every achievement of his life deserves a separate story in itself. I am grateful to have a brilliant creative force like Ronnie Screwvala backing the film, and we can’t wait to get started next year. Hoping to announce the lead actor soon”
Ronnie Screwvala, who has produced several cult films of our times such as RANG DE BASANTI, SWADES, A WEDNESDAY, URI, SONCHIRIYA, AND BARFI promises that Dhyan Chand will be among his best films. “Given the largeness and greatness of Dhyan Chand’s life achievements, I feel that there could be no one better than Abhishek to direct the film and it’s an absolute pleasure to collaborate with him again after Sonchiriya. Dhyanchand is the biggest icon of Indian sports who unfortunately the youth of today don’t know much about. There couldn’t have been a greater underdog story than DhyanChand`s and I can’t wait to bring this film to the audiences.”
Padma Bhushan Dhyan Chand’s son, Ashok Kumar – Olympic medalist and winning goal scorer in the 1975 World Cup Hockey– is elated to bring to fore the sporting icon his father has been. “There is no better hockey player to date in the world like 3 time Olympic gold medalist Dhyan Chand. When Rohit Vaid approached me with the desire to make a film on my father, I was instantly drawn to his intensity and passion for the project. The genius of Dhyan Chand and his achievements will be seen by the world and my family and I are thrilled to be part of this”.
Producer Premnath Rajagopalan of Blue Monkey Films says he is honored to bring Dhyan Chand to the screen. “Rohit and I are grateful to Ashok Kumar and the family for putting their faith in us to bring DC’s story to the world. It’s is a legacy and a story that everyone should know, not only in our country but also in the world. We are also looking forward to taking our partnership with Ronnie forward as this would be our 2nd project.”
Dhyan Chand is expected to be released in the year 2022.
