From cricket field to cinema screen
21 Jun 2012 1:29 AM GMT
My biggest dream is to win the World Cup, an unfulfilled dream for the Indian women’s cricket team, former captain Anjum Chopra told Millennium Post in an interview after the launch of a docu-drama, Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies in Kolkata. The film stars Chopra and four other members of the national women’s cricket team.
'The film shows you what goes on behind televised matches — the dressing room stories of the Indian women’s cricket team and how they combat their failures and success,' Chopra explains.
So is this film a take off on the hugely popular Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Chak De? 'No, this is the real Chak De. This is a film surrounding real cricketers and not actors. The players were told to be themselves and the camera just follows them around,' she explained.
Chopra will star in the sequel to the film as well along with acclaimed Tollywood actor Indraneil Sengupta and will be directed by Sunil Yash Kalra, an acclaimed sports filmmaker.
'The sequel talks about issues in women sports in India. Though the women’s cricket team is not on the same footing as the men’s team even on Wednesday and we are not star athletes, the lives of the girls playing national and international cricket has changed. Remember we beat Australia in 2009 and we are now playing under the banner of the BCCI,' she said.
The just-launched film stars five members of the Indian women’s cricket team, including Chopra who is the protagonist and also Jhulan Goswami. It is a rib-tickling display of humour interspersed with drama and camaraderie having all the makings of a Bollywood commercial flick except for the fact that this is no fictitious plot or climax. Both the Poor Cousins films highlight how, despite the lesser attention from cricket bosses, sponsors and the media, the women cricket players have stood up to the challenge.
'I still rue our team’s loss in the 2005 World Cup though,' she said.
The launch was followed by the announcement of a nation-wide hunt for fresh talent to act in the sequel Poor Cousins Part II.
Chopra and the India Sports Films team are travelling to various cities in search of fresh faces. You can register with the website, indiansportsfan.com or simply mail Anjum. The best talent will be hand-picked, groomed and then selected by Anjum herself.
DVDs of Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies are available for online sale on Infibeam.com.
'The film shows you what goes on behind televised matches — the dressing room stories of the Indian women’s cricket team and how they combat their failures and success,' Chopra explains.
So is this film a take off on the hugely popular Shah Rukh Khan starrer, Chak De? 'No, this is the real Chak De. This is a film surrounding real cricketers and not actors. The players were told to be themselves and the camera just follows them around,' she explained.
Chopra will star in the sequel to the film as well along with acclaimed Tollywood actor Indraneil Sengupta and will be directed by Sunil Yash Kalra, an acclaimed sports filmmaker.
'The sequel talks about issues in women sports in India. Though the women’s cricket team is not on the same footing as the men’s team even on Wednesday and we are not star athletes, the lives of the girls playing national and international cricket has changed. Remember we beat Australia in 2009 and we are now playing under the banner of the BCCI,' she said.
The just-launched film stars five members of the Indian women’s cricket team, including Chopra who is the protagonist and also Jhulan Goswami. It is a rib-tickling display of humour interspersed with drama and camaraderie having all the makings of a Bollywood commercial flick except for the fact that this is no fictitious plot or climax. Both the Poor Cousins films highlight how, despite the lesser attention from cricket bosses, sponsors and the media, the women cricket players have stood up to the challenge.
'I still rue our team’s loss in the 2005 World Cup though,' she said.
The launch was followed by the announcement of a nation-wide hunt for fresh talent to act in the sequel Poor Cousins Part II.
Chopra and the India Sports Films team are travelling to various cities in search of fresh faces. You can register with the website, indiansportsfan.com or simply mail Anjum. The best talent will be hand-picked, groomed and then selected by Anjum herself.
DVDs of Poor Cousins of Million Dollar Babies are available for online sale on Infibeam.com.
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