Director Raja Krishna Menon, who was set to direct a biopic on Asian Games gold medal-winning former boxer Dingko Singh, mourned the athlete's death and said he is saddened by the fact that a film couldn’t be made on his life while he was still alive. Singh died on Thursday after a long battle with liver cancer at the age of 42. Menon, who has helmed Akshay Kumar's “Airlift” and Saif Ali Khan-starrer “Chef”, had announced the movie on Singh's life in 2019.
“It is unfortunate and terrible. This has come as a shock. I knew he was ill and suffering but I didn’t know it was this bad. He was a wonderful human being and a spiritual person. It is unfortunate that we couldn’t make the film before he could have seen it,” Menon told PTI.
The biopic, which was planned with Shahid Kapoor as Singh, has been put on hold.
“The film got stuck.We will see what happens,” Menon said, adding, Singh was aware that the project was on hold.
"He wanted the film to be made because he wanted the story to be told to inspire people. He was a pragmatic person.
He never called me or asked why it was stuck. “This film needs to be made. It is a story that has to be told. It is a tremendous story and a tribute is due to him. I do believe this film needs to be made,” he added.
The director said what drew him to make a film on Singh was his fighting spirit.
"He is a source of inspiration for everyone. He came from a very poor family, grew up in an orphanage, he was a fighter and single-minded about what he did.
"At that point of time, he was a world level sportsman without any facilities. It was purely because of his gumption and gut.
He was different from anyone I had met,” he added.
Singh won the Asian Games gold in 1998 and was bestowed the Arjuna award the same year. In 2013, he was honoured with the Padma Shri for his contribution to the sport. The Manipur-based former boxer, who was employed with the Navy, had taken to coaching after hanging up his gloves.
