From Milkha Singh to Neerja, Padmaavat to Mary Kom, in last few years Bollywood has witnessed a biopic on many eminent personalities from different walks of life. However, there have been times when many inspiring stories fail to reach the silver screen because either there’s high money demand from the families of whom the biopic is based or there are too many restrictions and permissions involved.

With PeepingMoon, let’s have a quick look at the few biopics which failed to reach the silver screen due to varied unfortunate reasons.

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla, an Indian-American astronaut was the first Indian women to venture into space. Chawla died on February 1, 2003, in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, along with the other six crew members, when the Columbia disintegrated over Texas during re-entry into the Earth's atmosphere, shortly before it was scheduled to conclude its 28th mission, STS-107. Since the last two years, there have been many speculations regarding Kalpana’s biopic. The news gained momentum when Priyanka  Chopra Jonas became the top contender for the role. However, later on, there was buzz that the film has been shelved because late Kalpana’s ex-husband Jean-Pierre Harrison refused to give the rights to the makers of the biopic. Recently, producer Ajit Andhare spoke to a leading publication and assured that the film is not shelved. However, they are definitely waiting for a few approvals from the deceased’s family.

Kishore Kumar

The multi-talented actor, director, singer, producer Kishore Kumar had led a very interesting life, facets of which are not knows to the people. While many Bollywood producers have made constant efforts to showcase his life on screen, Kishore Kumar’s son Amit and Sumit and late wife Leena Chandavarkar never approved of the idea to an extent Kishore Kumar’s family has bought all the copyrights to the information related to the late singer-actor due to which no filmmaker can go ahead with any biopic without seeking the formal permissions. This matter came into light when filmmaker Anurag Basu, for the longest time, tried very hard to acquire the rights from the family as he wanted to cast Ranbir Kapoor in the lead role. Not known to many, Ranbir was so eager to be a part of this biopic that apparently he rejected seven other biopics, out of which one is based on the life of Olympian sharpshooter Abhinav Bindra and astronaut Rakesh Sharma. Interestingly, Kishore’s elder son Amit is planning to make a film on his late father. “Mehmood Bhauijaan was the one who gave us the idea to make a film on our father. A few years back my brother Sumit and I had prepared a skit where we go to the moon and meet our father. Mehmood encouraged the idea and suggested that we make a film on it. However, we haven’t started any work on it.”

Arunima Sinha

A national volleyball player fell off the train while trying to defend herself from a train robbery. In this unfortunate incident, she lost her foot. But this didn’t deter Arunima’s spirit and within a year, she became the first handicapped Indian woman to scale the Mount Everest. A few months back there was a news that a film titled Born Again On The Mountain: A Story Of Losing Everything And Finding Back, based on the book of a similar name was In process. Producer Karan Johar and Vivek Rangachari were helming the project with Alia Bhatt in the lead role. However, it has been almost a year and there has been no update on the film. And with Alia’s busy schedule with films like RRR, Sadak 2, Brahmastra and Takht, this project looks next to impossible.

Rakesh Sharma

Saare Jahan Se Acha or Salute – Biopic based on Indian astronaut Rakesh Sharma was in the news for the entire 2018. From Shah Rukh Khan to Vicky Kaushal, everyone was offered the script. Ranbir Kapoor and Aamir Khan were also in the running, however, no name ever found confirmation from the producers’ end. Interestingly, the makers say the film is still in the pre-production stage however, sources claim the project has been shelved

PT Usha

Known as the Queen of the Indian track and field, athlete PT Usha has been a household name representing Indian sports since 1979. Reports say that Priyanka Chopra Jonas was offered the film and even Katrina Kaif was in the running for the role but nothing ever materialized. Sadly, there has been no update on this inspiring biopic ever since.

(Source: PeepingMoon)