New Delhi: After Jhulan Goswami Indian women’s cricket team captain Mithali Raj is set to have a biopic. Raj’s story will be told through a biopic, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, who acquired the rights of the film announced on Tuesday.
Ajit Andhare, the COO of the Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said in a statement: “Viacom18 Motion Pictures has always been the pioneer in showcasing content with portrayal of strong women characters right from ‘Queen’ to ‘Kahaani’ to ‘Mary Kom.”
“We are proud to be collaborating with the young and inspirational Mithali Dorai Raj, a name single-handedly responsible in bringing about a shift in the way women’s cricket team was perceived in our country,” he added.
The studio had already made a name for itself having collaborated in inspirational films like, “Queen”, Manjhi: “The Mountain Man”, “Drishyam” and “Toilet: Ek Prem Katha”. It has also been associated with sports biopics such as “Mary Kom” and “Bhaag Milkha Bhaag”.
“I am extremely happy on this association with Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Hoping that this movie inspires more people especially young girls to take up sports as a career,” said Mithali, from Delhi.
The 34-year-old, who led India to the ICC World Cup final for the second time in 2017 having earlier led in 2005, has had nothing short of a stellar career so far. The highest run-scorer in women’s cricket, Raj is also the only woman to surpass the 6000 run mark in One-Day Internationals.
An Arjuna awardee in 2003, she also has the record of scoring seven consecutive half-centurys in ODI’s. She was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award in 2015 by the Government of India and is often referred to as the ‘Sachin Tendulkar of women’s cricket.’
Varun Chopra, Director, Medallin Sports who played an important role in making this possible said, “Mithali remains to be an inspiration for multitudes for many years now and her story on the silver screen will keep motivating generations.”
Earlier Rio Olympics gold medalist PV Sindhu was seen training actress Shraddha Kapoor for a biopic on her (Sindhu). biopic on World Cup winning captain Kapil Dev is also on the cards.