New Delhi: Olympic gold medallist Neeraj Chopra refused to have a film produced about him unless he won additional medals. He affirmed that several groundbreaking feats were necessary to enhance the film into a matter-of-fact tone.
“I have been approached to do biopics but I think what I have achieved is just the beginning. This was my first Olympics. I want to win more medals. I don’t want the movie to flop,” Chopra said at the Times Now Summit 2021.
“If I can win more medals, I think then the movie too will be a hit. Right now, my entire focus is on sports, I haven’t thought about Bollywood,” he added.
The Haryana-born javelin thrower rose to prominence after being the first Indian to win an Olympic gold medal in track and field. With the passage of time, speculation began regarding what his biography might look like and who would play him on movie.
Yet sports, according to Chopra, remained his top priority.
Chopra,23, stunned the sports world with a second round throw of 87.58m in the finals, ending India’s 100-year wait for an Olympic track and field medal at Tokyo Olympics.
“To be honest, until the last throw you are never sure because there are world champions and Olympic champions at that time. For example, the Czech thrower made a throw of more than 89 metres, so you never know who will make a throw that will exceed that. We need to be focused till the end of the competition.”
“I want to achieve the 90 metre distance in future games”, Chopra said while he recollect his historical feat of Tokyo Olympics.
Meanwhile, former India hockey captain and goalkeeper of the historic Olympic bronze medal-winning team, PR Sreejesh, also has revealed that a film based on his life is in the offing.
“Yes, I have been approached for a biopic and the talks are going,” he said.
According to the senior goalie, the team’s success in the 2014 Asian Games changed Indian hockey’s fortunes. “Things changed after 2014 when we made it to the semi-finals in the Asian Games in Incheon and especially when we defeated Pakistan. People were hopeful about us after that. There is always a lot of expectations when you go for the Olympics. And in 2016 we made it to the quarter-final.
Now that we have won a medal in the recent Olympics, we understand that this is something that has not happened overnight. There has been a change in people’s thought process after the recent win in the Olympics, after Neeraj won the gold”, he added.
According to Sreejesh, in order for India to become a top athletic nation, the way people think about sports in general was needed to alter.
“There has been a change in people’s attitude towards sports. People have started to show confidence in Indian sportspersons, that they can go to Olympics and win medals,” concluded Sreejesh.
