Praveen Sattaru’s upcoming movie Pullela Gopichand is not just another biopic of a sportsperson. It is about an Indian badminton player who mortgaged his home for Rs 3 crore to build an academy. When the government gave Gopichand five acres of land in Hyderabad for winning the All England championship, he didn’t use it for commercial purpose, instead he used the land (which costs billions) for sports. He took a Rs 5 crore donation from industrialist Nimmagadda Prasad promising India an Olympic medal and he got two.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he had no coach to guide him and he lost the game. He vowed to himself to give others what he didn’t get. The otherwise soft-spoken Gopi was a ruthless trainer on court; he coached students from 4 am till the night. When he was named the official Indian coach, the players went on to protest the move, saying that his training was too hard for Indians. But the tough master and his team of protégés went on to make a mark. And that is why Sindhu’s parents credited her victory to Gopi.
It is the government’s job to find talents and groom them, but here, Gopichand is the one who spots diamonds like Sindhu and makes them champions. We need hundreds of Gopis to bring out thousands of talents.
The academy has produced several badminton players including Saina Nehwal, Parupalli Kashyap, Srikanth Kidambi, P.V. Sindhu, Arundhati Pantawane, Gurusai Datt and Arun Vishnu.
Anecdotes
Vijay Raghavan and Manoj Kumar were both seniors to Gopichand during his early years of badminton at Fateh Maidan (LB Stadium). Vijay was there when Gopi suffered an injury that almost halted his career. A similar injury had ended Manoj’s career and everyone thought Gopi was finished. But the way he recovered is remarkable. He went on to win the All England title after three major injuries.
Larger-than-life story
Producer Abhisek Nama of Abhishek Pictures says the movie’s story was told by Gopichand himself. “His life is a very interesting one. His struggles and the win after the injury changed the face of Indian badminton,” he says.
The film is scheduled to hit the floor this November and will be shot across Hyderabad, Lucknow, Bengaluru and Birmingham. Now that Gopichand and his academy are in the news, the film may appeal to a global audience. Abhishek says, “Director Praveen Sattaru has been working on the script for one year. All this fame for the academy was quite unexpected.”
Interestingly, the screenplay was written with the help of Gopichand. He says that he was not at all tempted to change the story! What inspired them to make the biopic? “Gopi’s story is well-known and his struggle makes it a great tale that the world should know. The biggest inspiration is the way he produced so many more heroes to look up to. Let Gopi inspire us like this for years to come,” says Abhishek. To be directed by national award-winning director Praveen Sattaru, Pullela Gopichand will be the first biopic on an Indian badminton player. Abishek says that the biggest challenge was to bring Gopichand on board. The film will release in four languages — English, Hindi Telugu and Tamil.
Sudheer Babu will be portraying Gopi on screen. “He was always our first choice because Sudheer is a former badminton player himself, who trained with Gopi at the Prakash Padukone Academy in Bengaluru.” So, is a biopic on P.V. Sindhu on its way? “It’s too early to tell. She is too young. Let’s all help her focus on the game for a few more years,” he concludes.
