Rajkummar Rao to stay in Sourav Ganguly’s residence in Kolkata to ‘live the character’

The eagerly awaited biopic on legendary Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly is expected to start its shooting soon. Set to be played by versatile actor Rajkummar Rao, will be spending a month at Ganguly’s Kolkata residence after Durga Puja to prepare for the role. This is likely to help the actor to live the character, study Ganguly’s personality closely, and note the mannerisms of the man.

For this film, Rao has already begun cricket lessons, but the additional step of staying with Ganguly is to perform the role to perfection. According to director Vikramaditya Motwane, the 40-year-old is a perfect fit for the role, and this exercise will only help him.

The project, set on a massive INR 250-crore budget, has been years in the making. The film crew, including producer Ankur Garg of Luv Films, has already conducted extensive location recces across Kolkata, visiting iconic cricketing venues such as Eden Gardens and Dukhiram Cricket Coaching Centre. They also spent time at Ganguly’s home, taking note of the spaces that are close to his life.

Main challenge will be the period setting: Director Vikramaditya Motwane

Director Vikramaditya Motwane mentioned the challenges of recreating a story set two decades ago. He emphasized the need to balance nostalgia with entertainment, ensuring the film appeals not just to cricket fans but also to audiences unfamiliar with that golden era of Indian cricket.

“The main challenge will be the period setting. That’s always tough because it’s a different era 20 to 25 years ago. Also, making it entertaining for the general public is an even bigger challenge. You want the audience to connect with the story, but not feel lost if they don’t know the background. Finding that middle ground is key. Some of the younger audience haven’t lived through that golden generation of Indian cricket like we did Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, and Dada (Ganguly). So, you have to make the film appealing to everyone, not just the fans,” he said as quoted by Revsportz.

The biopic will be around Ganguly’s cricketing career and his captaincy, which changed Indian cricket in the early 2000s. The film will be mainly shot in Kolkata, Mumbai, and later international schedules in England and Australia. Notably, this will be the third biopic on an Indian captain after MS Dhoni and Mohammad Azharuddin.