Filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani has of late been shooting for Shah Rukh Khan's Dunki. The social comedy based on the subject of "donkey flight" has so far been shot in Mumbai, London, Budapest, and Saudi Arabia and will soon go back into production in Punjab. Over half of the shooting is said to have been completed, with expectations for it to be wrapped up by May 2023. Hirani and his team are shooting and simultaneously editing the film after each schedule to release it in cinemas on the Christmas weekend this year. With Dunki progressing well, the director has now started preparing for his next film as well, and we hear he has already locked in the one he wants to direct after Dunki.
Peepingmoon.com has exclusively learned that Rajkumar Hirani will next make a film on the life of Independent India’s first cricket captain, Lala Amarnath. The 3 Idiots and PK director is getting back to biopics again after Sanju, and this time he will tell the life story of a sportsman widely considered to be one of the pioneers of Indian cricket. "Rajkumar Hirani has been planning a biopic on Lala Amarnath since 2019. In fact, it was one of the two scripts he had offered to SRK, but the superstar chose Dunki, and the biopic was put on hold for the time being. After Dunki’s release, Hirani wants to revive the Lala Amarnath biopic and has asked his writing team to finish the script by the year's end. It’s a story Hirani has been very passionate about and is committed to starting work on it right after Dunki is out of his system," a source close to the development told us.
Rajkumar Hirani is collaborating with Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani’s Excel Entertainment on this yet-untitled biopic. Dangal and Chhichhore writer Piyush Gupta and Nil Battey Sannata writer Neeraj Singh have written the script, which is said to be more or less ready. "Lala Amarnath’s biopic is not a typical sports biopic. Hirani will tell his story in his usual entertaining way, beautifully highlighting Lala’s career, his spasmodic brilliance, and his enduring influence on Indian cricket. An A-list young star is expected to star in this film; however, the director will finalize someone only after he is done with Dunki’s shooting," the source further said, adding that the official announcement of this project will be made soon.
Lala Amarnath scored India’s first Test century and went on to become Indian cricket’s patriarchal figure. He was independent India’s first cricket captain and captained India in their first Test series against Pakistan in 1952. He played only three Test matches before World War 2, during which he amassed around 10,000 runs with 30 centuries in first-class cricket, which included teams from Australia and England. After the war, he played another 21 test matches for India. Lala later became the chairman of the Senior Selection Committee, BCCI, and also served as a coach and broadcaster. Born in an impoverished Brahmin family in Punjab, Lala was not just a batsman but also the only bowler to dismiss the Australian cricketer Donald Bradman. His sons Mohinder and Surinder also played cricket for India, while his grandson Digvijay is also a current first-class player. Lala Amarnath was considered a living legend of Indian cricket throughout his twilight years and was honoured with the Padma Bhushan award in 1991. He passed away at the age of 88 in August 2000.
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