Taapsee to play Mithali Raj in biopic

Mumbai: Actor Taapsee Pannu has come is set to star in Shabaash Mithu, a film on Indian women's cricket team captain Mithali Raj.

Shabaash Mithu will be backed by Viacom18 Studios and directed by Raees helmer Rahul Dholakia.

Taapsee said she is honoured to play the role and has already started feeling the pressure of stepping in her shoes.

"I don't think I want to trade this place with anyone else right now. She has always been brave and strong to back truth and her idols, and that is the connect I feel with her. The way she changed the way women's cricket is perceived and seen in India is truly a story worth telling," the actor said in a statement.

"Kudos to Viacom18 Studios for choosing to tell this story. I look forward to working with Rahul Dholakia for this first of its kind story and to learn yet another sport which is treated as a religion in our country, cricket," she added.

Announcing the film on Mithali's birthday, Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Studios, said the story idea struck him about a year ago while watching the movie Hidden Figures.

"After securing the rights we worked with several external writers to develop the script. However, it was our own creative director Priya Aven who cracked the script I was looking for."