Shraddha Kapoor will essay the role of Saina Nehwal in the badminton star’s biopic. The film is being helmed by Amole Gupte, who has earlier directed Stanley Ka Dabba and Hawa Hawai. The actress is also portraying Dawood Ibrahim’s sister, Haseena Parkar in her upcoming film Haseena, which is slated to release on July 14.
Both the biopics are an opportunity for Shraddha to come out of her comfort zone. Since she shot to the limelight as a singer in Mohit Suri’s Aashiqui 2 four years ago, Shraddha has mostly done romantic roles. The daughter of actor Shakti Kapoor earned praises with her role of a Kashmiri journalist in Vishal Bhardwaj’s Haider. Although she had little to do in the film which featured an ensemble cast comprising Shahid Kapoor, Tabu, Kay Kay Menon, Irrfan, Narendra Jha and others, Shraddha did a decent job. She played a dancer in Remo D’Souza’s ABCD 2 and earned a lot of praises.
Shraddha has a near perfect career record as most of her films have turned out to be money-spinners. But, her roles never really the challenged the actress in her. In an industry which heavily relies on star power, she is the blue-eyed girl of the producers who want her on board for their films. But when you start doing the same kind of roles again and again, it takes no time for critics to stereotype you. Things become increasingly difficult to get rid of the stereotype. Shraddha’s contemporary, Alia Bhatt, who made a dream debut in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year, did not let herself being typecast through her roles in Highway, Udta Punjab, Dear Zindagi and Badrinath Ki Dulhania. Similarly, Parineeti Chopra has also tried to break away from her comfort zone and has found some success. But Shraddha has still a lot in discovering her potential.
When the teaser poster of Haseena: The Queen of Mumbai was unveiled early this year, Shraddha left everyone surprised. The actor portrays Dawood’s sister Haseena Parkar, who handled the fugitive don’s operations in Mumbai. The 30-year-old actor looked every bit of a gangster who triggered fear in her hey days. Right from the look which required her to gain weight for Haseena, Shraddha seems to have left no stone unturned.
Shraddha and Siddhanth Kapoor in a still from Haseena. (Courtesy: Twitter/Shraddha Kapoor)
If Haseena is the biopic of a gangster, portraying a sportsperson like Saina Nehwal is a bigger challenge. Since the biopics on sporting icons have received mixed reviews, it will not be easy for Shraddha to woo people to the theatres. Especially in a country that treats cricket as a religion, a film based on the life of a non-cricket player will need to have something unique. What makes it challenging for Shraddha is that the Olympian had expressed her wish to see Deepika Padukone portray her life on the silver screen. Not that there’s a strict competition but Shraddha will have to justify her potential better than Deepika then.
But Shraddha is determined to defy the critics. In an interview to a leading website, she said playing Saina is the toughest role of her career and she will begin her research as soon as Half Girlfriend releases. Well, if she can stay underwater for seven hours for song sequence in Ek Villain and train rigorously for stunts in Baaghi, she can definitely return aces with elan on the silver screen. Biopics on Haseena and Saina Nehwal is that platform. If Shraddha takes over this opportunity and beats the sh*t out of it, she’ll emerge as the boss of this game.
Also read: Here’s why Saina Nehwal’s biopic will be the most challenging role for Shraddha Kapoor
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