Akshay Kumar wrapped up his another ambitious project Gold with a somersault video on Instagram. Dressed in a traditional dhoti, Akshay was seen celebrating the journey coming to an end. Till now, we have been under the assumption that Akshay is essaying the role of hockey player Balbir Singh, who led India to win gold in three consecutive Olympics. But producer Ritesh Sidhwani has refuted such reports. Sidhwani clarified that his forthcoming film, co-produced by Farhan Akhtar under their production house Excel Entertainment, is a story based on true events, not a biopic.
"It is not a biopic. It is a completely fictional story but it is set against a real backdrop between 1933-48 India about what the country was, the sports... About hockey. It is not based on any character," said Sidhwani.
"We have set it in real events so people (often) confuse it with a biopic. It talks about the era in which we achieved Independence and what happened with sports, (primarily) hockey at that time. It is not about a particular character and Akshay is not even playing (hockey in the film). He plays the manager," he added.
''When Reema Kagti came to us with the story, it was on her wish list to go to an actor. And our job as producers is to take her to that actor, so we did that. ''Akshay was her choice," he said. "He is the most professional actor. He is dedicated and focused about his work. He comes on the sets and is there till you dont finish the shoot. It is not that he will go and sit in his vanity van or have meetings or talk to people.
"He is a terrific person. It was pleasure to work with him. I think this is the beginning of many associations," Sidhwani said. Gold is the first sports film to be backed by their banner. Sidhwani said it will be followed by another sports story, based on the Rio Paralympics silver medallist, Deepa Malik. The project is already in the works.
It is for the first time that Excel Entertainment has collaborated with Akshay. The film also features Amit Sadh and Mouni Roy in pivotal roles and is slated for August 15, 2018 release.
(With PTI inputs)
