Amole Gupte’s biopic on badminton champ Saina Nehwal has yet to take off. The reason being trotted out is that Shraddha Kapoor, who will play the 27-year-old former World No. 1 in the Bhushan Kumar-produced film, is not proficient at the sport as yet to play Saina on screen. That’s only half the truth. The other half is reportedly that Saina herself is now unsure if not unhappy about Shraddha being the right choice to play her in the biopic. According to sources, the badminton ace does not see herself in the actress. And there lies the problem.

Unaware of this, Shraddha is said to be working hard at learning the nuances of badminton to play Saina on the big screen. The actress has thrown herself into the character with the same enthusiasm that she brought into her role as underworld don Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena in the biopic by the same name that released in September. But badminton is a tough sport to pick up. And as Shraddha struggles daily on the court, Gupte’s film that was to go on the floors last month gets interminably delayed.

It was earlier reported that Saina was happy with Shraddha playing her because both girls share a certain resemblance. But now the renowned sportswoman is having second thoughts. Especially after Shraddha’s attempts at learning how to play badminton have proved to be pathetic. Struggling to teach the actress the sport is former great and Indian badminton chief coach Pullela Gopichand. And so, sources say, Saina has asked Shraddha to give more time to practice and until then the shooting should be put on hold. For the player, her sport is everything, and she wants her biopic to be accurate technically. Moreover, badminton is the only life Saina knows, and Shraddha will have to worker harder if she wants to show Saina’s struggle and achievements.

Bollywood sources are disappointed with this development. Making a biopic on somebody who is alive is always difficult because the viewer has a clear point of reference and this puts pressure on the director and star. Also, the director has to stay close to facts and cannot play around much with the story. However, Sushant Singh Rajput and Priyanka Chopra, who played M. S. Dhoni and Mary Kom respectively in Bollywood biopics on these sporting idols, got acclaim from the subjects themselves for their performances. That does not look like it’s happening with Saina and Shraddha.