Ranveer Singh to Taapsee Pannu: Actors who are all set to star as sports personalities

Time and again Bollywood cinema has gifted us bundles of real-life stories based on notable personalities from the world of politics, sports and entertainment. Due to the well receivement of these stories from fans and critics, several actors have stepped into the shoes of real-life characters and have delivered them with conviction. Today, let’s take a look at these actors who are all set to star as sports personalities in their next.

Ranveer Singh is all set to step into the shoes of former cricket player Kapil Dev for essaying his role in ‘83. Helmed by Kabir Khan, the film would chronicle the events of Team India's prestigious Cricket World Cup win in 1983. The movie will also star Ranveer’s wife Deepika Padukone as his on-screen wife Romi Dev. The film, which was initially supposed to release in April 2020, was rescheduled for June 2021 release. Due to the pandemic, the release date has been postponed indefinitely.

While there was news surrounding Sourav Ganguly’s Bollywood biopic, it was reported that the former Indian captain had previously expressed that he would recommend Ranbir Kapoor to play his role. Today, our very own ‘Dada’ confirmed the news of a Bollywood biopic is on cards. The movie will portray Sourav Ganguly’s illustrious journey from being the Indian captain and winning international accolades for the country to being the BCCI president. As speculations are rife about Ranbir stepping into ‘Dada’s shoes, fans are hopeful that it’s true.

Taapsee Pannu is all set to play renowned Indian cricketer Mithali Raj in her biopic titled, Shabaash Mithu. A former captain of the Indian women’s national cricket team in Tests and ODIs, Mithali is the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket and the only female cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in WODIs. Helmed by Rahul Dholakia and written by Priya Aven, the film was initially scheduled to release this year in February. The makers are yet to announce the new date.

Shahid Kapoor is all set to star as a 36-year-old cricketer in ‘Jersey’. Helmed by Gowtam Tinnanuri, ‘Jersey’ is a remake of his 2019 Telugu film of the same title. Reportedly, the storyline revolves around a talented but failed cricketer who decides to return to cricket in his mid-30s, with the hope of representing the Indian cricket team, and fulfill his son's wish for a jersey as a gift. While the film’s shooting schedule has been wrapped, the makers are yet to confirm a release date.

Helmed by Amit Sharma, the biographical sports film, Maidaan is based on the golden era of Indian football. The movie also honours the legendary football coach Syed Abdul Rahim. He had coached team India from 1950 to 1963. This period was also referred to as the ‘golden era’ for football in India. Ajay would be seen essaying the role of Rahim for the biopic.