It’s raining biopics at the box office

The Zinda chant is well,quite a chant and it gets into your head. Some bits about the film’s promos though remind me of Chak De! India with a dash of Paan Singh Tomar but we all have seen enough movies to know that assumptions based on promos most often come to naught. Moreover since BMB is a creative collaboration between Mehra and Farhan,it has a pretty good chance to be awesome.

Biopics incidentally are B town’s latest buzzword. It seems filmmakers are tired of stale fiction and are looking at real life to inspire. Maybe it’s also a formula thing,spurred by the success of The Dirty Picture (TDP) ,Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai (OUATIM) and Paan Singh Tomar (PST). Meet any producer and he wants to know if you’ve come across any real person’s awe inspiring story that can be translated on screen. even though as cinema culture all this while we have celebrated larger-than-life characters,finally we are waking up to the power of real life people and their triumphs.

We’ll soon see Priyanka Chopra in and as Mary Kom. Nawazzuddin Siddiqui is playing the Mountain Man dashrath Manjhi. Biopics have been announced on the lives of Charles Sobhraj,Indira Gandhi,Dhyan Chand and legendary mathematician Srinivasa Ramanunjan. There’s speculation that Vidya Balan is attached to play MS Subbulakshmi in Rajiv Menon’s biopic of the Carnatic legend. Ekta Kapoor who brought to life Haji Mastan’s story in the Milan Luthria directed OUATIM and Silk Smitha’s life in TDP has just signed on a deal to make a biopic on cricketer Mohammad Azharuddin. Director Tigmanshu Dhulia’s dream project is to make a film on The Father of White Revolution in India,Dr Verghese Kurien. Speculation is rife that Abhishek Bachchan who has previously played Dhirubhai Ambani in Mani Ratnam’s Guru,will play the role of Dr Kurien.

Many more names will be added. Let’s keep tabs.

harneet.singh@expressindia.com