A biopic on young archer Dolly Shivani

Vijayawada-based Shivani drew the attention of the world when she created a national record in archery when she was three-years-old, hauling 200 points in five and seven-metre distances in the compound segment in 2015.

Vijayawada-based Shivani drew the attention of the world when she created a national record in archery when she was three-years-old, hauling 200 points in five and seven-metre distances in the compound segment in 2015.

Five-year-old city archer Cherukuri Dolly Shivani is all set to take the world by storm next month, not for her shooting expertise but for her acting skills. Her biopic, made by a film crew from the U.S., will hit the screen in the Full Frame Documentary Film festival in Durham (England), which begins on April 6.

Vijayawada-based Shivani drew the attention of the world when she created a national record in archery when she was three-years-old, hauling 200 points in five and seven-metre distances in the compound segment in 2015.

In 2016, she proved her mettle as an emerging archer by winning three national medals at the Mini National Archery championship in Tirupati, bagging two bronze medals in the individual Olympic round and mixed round, and a silver in the 15-m distance.

Shivani’s parents, Cherukuri Satyanarayana and Krishna Kumari, took the surrogacy route for her birth and believe that she is the reincarnation of their only son, Cherukuri Lenin, an international archer and coach, who died in a road accident in 2010.

Biopic

The project took shape primarily owing to the interest of Jamie Dobie, the film’s director from New York, who had come with the crew to interact with general public, senior scribes, administrators and fellow-archers to make a short film on Shivani in 2015.

Shearwater, a music band based in Texas, has rendered the musical score for the film.

“This is a unique tale of grief and healing the five-year-old Shivani is believed to be the reincarnation of their son” – is the synopsis of the film as revealed by the director in her Facebook.

Shattered by death

Shattered by their son’s untimely death, Cherukuri Satyanarayana and Krishna Kumari wanted the next generation to take forward the legacy of the Vijayawada-based Volga Archery Academy and took the help of advanced medical methods to bring Shivani to this world.

Shivani was introduced to archery from a very early age and she uses light carbon arrows which helps her train without difficulty.

Satyanarayana has trained several Indian compound archers such as Vennam Jyothi Surekha (Asian Games medallist), Chittibomma Jignas, Ritul Chatterjee (CWG medallist) and Mangal Singh Champia (Olympian), and he has big ambitions for his daughter – the Olympics.