There’s another twist to the biopic on Captain Hawa Singh, better known as the Father of Indian Boxing, which has been in the pipeline since 2016. John Abraham was to play the titular role after Sam Fernandez, Vinod Chopra Films’ former COO, brought the rights to Hawa Singh’s life story and a big director was reportedly coming on board to helm the film. However, things didn’t work out and the project was temporarily shelved.
Three years later, the Hawa Singh biopic is back on track. However, John will no longer be a part of it. PeepingMoon.com has exclusively learned that Sooraj Pancholi has been finalized to play the legendary boxer in the biopic that will go on floors by the year-end. “The film requires the lead actor to undergo intense training in boxing which the makers felt would be difficult for John at this age. Hence they decided to look for somebody younger who could get professionally trained to look authentic in the film,” a source said.
Sooraj Pancholi
Sooraj will apparently undergo boxing training for a few months before the film’s production begins in Delhi later this year. The actor has already started prepping for the role and will soon travel to Bhiwani in Haryana to get trained and learn the rural diction so that he looks convincing in the role. Boxing champion Vijendra Singh, who was trained in Hawa Singh’s Bhiwani Boxing Club, has also been approached to help Sooraj in getting the boxing nuances right.
As per sources, real boxers from Pakistan, Bangladesh and other countries will also be brought on board to make the boxing sequences look real. It is not yet clear who will direct the film but we heard it will be shot at various locations in Delhi, Haryana and Thailand.
Hawa Singh
Hawa Singh is known for dominating Indian and Asian amateur boxing for a decade in the heavyweight category. He has an undefeated record of clinching the National Championships for 11 straight years between 1961 and 1972 and winning the gold medal in his weight class at two consecutive editions of the Asian Games.
Sooraj himself recently revealed that he has signed a sports biopic but didn’t divulge any details. “It’s a biopic on a sports legend so it can only be played by someone who’s in his 20s or his early 30s; he cannot be much older than that. I actually auditioned for this role. I sent a couple of reels to them and I begged for them to let me take on this film because I was a huge fan of this script. I’ve always wanted to do a biopic, especially on sports, and this is a film about boxing. They came to me without knowing that I could box and I think it was just meant to be,” the actor said in a media interview.
(Source: PeepingMoon)
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