While his most famous ward, Sachin Tendulkar, has been worshipped as a demigod in a country that treats cricket as a religion, Ramakant Achrekar has largely remained in the shadow all these years. The veteran coach, who played a mentor to Sachin, will finally be celebrated, and that too on the silver screen.
Come December 3, a docudrama on the life of Achrekar will hit the screens. Directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Pramod Purswane, the film will talk about the life of India’s most talked about coach —Achrekar!
That’s not all.
Likely to be titled ‘Sir’, as suggested by Tendulkar, the film, which the director calls his dream project, will have Tendulkar talk about how his coach Achrekar helped him become a superstar. It will be Sachin who will be sharing most of the stories about his ‘Sir’.
Achrekar’s other students — Pravin Amre, Chandrakant Pandit, Amol Muzumder, Atul Ranade — will narrate stories about their beloved mentor. “It is our tribute to one of India’s legendary coaches. The heart of the film is about Sir (Achrekar),” director Purswane told Sportstar .
After receiving a National Award for his documentary ‘And We Play On’ in 2011, Purswane spent three years to shoot the film on Achrekar. While the finishing touches are being given, Purswane believes that it is not a biopic. “It is not a biography, because here we tell a story on how Achrekar supported his wards despite financial difficulties. It is rare in today’s times where youngsters like Sarfaraz Khan struggle just because there are no Achrekars to help them out,” Pursawne explained.
The film also deals with the story of U-19 cricketer Sarfaraz Khan, who hogged the limelight during his stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the Indian Premier League (IPL). “The idea was to show how a promising youngster like Sarfaraz, hailing from a lower-middle class family, struggles because there is no one to help him out. That’s how we are connecting the story with Achrekar Sir,” Purswane said.
The film also features clips of Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan and Yuvraj Singh. “They all share their experiences with Sachin and as Sachin shares his childhood, it all comes together. We can see what Sachin gave for the nation has a huge connect with what ‘Sir’ brought to him,” the director points out.
Sarfaraz’s father Naushad Khan feels that this film will not only give a boost to his son, but will also inspire youngsters. “The idea is very different, and it is a tribute to one of the legends of Indian cricket,” he said.
While most of the wards have shared screen space, Vinod Kambli is not a part of the project. “That’s unfortunate, but he is not a part of this film,” Purswane said.
His previous film, which was about Indian hockey, had very few takers in India, but this time, with Sachin paying his tribute to his mentor, Purswane hopes to turn the tide. “On his birthday (December 3), we plan to release the film. I have been working on it for a long time, and it’s time to show it to the world.”
Comments
SHARE