Season of biopics.
By Sreekanth A. Nair
Bollywood has already seen the biopic of cricketer Azharuddin this year. Two more biopics are in the pipeline: Aamir Khan starrer-Dangal which portrays the life of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat and Sushant Singh Rajput-starrer-MS Dhoni: The Untold Story. If reports are to be believed, one more biopic will go on the floors soon.
A report in Mumbai Mirror says that John Abraham may play the role of boxer Captain Hawa Singh in a biopic. Sam Fernandez, former COO of Vidhu Vinod Chopra films, will produce the film along with John Abraham and a studio.
“Yes, I am making a biopic on Captain Hawa Singh,” Sam Fernandez told the daily. But he didn’t confirm whether Abraham has been roped in for playing the lead role.
John Abraham has also revealed that he is excited about the film.
“We are both six-feet-one and weigh 94 kgs. His son, Sanjay Singh, daughter-in-law and two grandkids came to see me. I’ve not signed it yet but the family, Sam and I are all very excited about this project,” he told Mumbai Mirror.
Founder of the Bhiwani Boxing Club, which produced world famous boxers like Vijender Singh, Akhil Kumar and Jitender Kumar, Hawa Singh was commissioned into the Indian Army in 1956, at the age of 19. In 1960, at the age of 23, he beat the defending champion Mohabbat Singh to win the Western Command championship.
Singh holds a record of winning the National Championship for 11 straight years; from 1961 to 72. The record is yet to be broken. He won gold medals in the Asian Games of 1966 and 70.
Though he wanted to go to the Olympics to face the late Mohammad Ali, he couldn’t attend the event due to some political issues. He was honored with the Dronacharya Award in 1999. But he suddenly passed away on August 14, 2000, just 15 days before the award ceremony. The award was received by his wife Angoori Devi on behalf of Singh.