There have been many biopics on sports personalities: Milkha Singh, Mary Kom, Vinesh Phogat, MS Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar to name a few among those. Karnam Malleswari is all set to be included in that list as her biopic is about to be made.
Karnam Malleswari is the first Indian woman to win an Olympic medal. She won a bronze in weightlifting at the Sydney Olympics 2000. She had lifted 110 kg in the snatch and 130 kg in the clean and jerk categories for a total of 240 kg in the Olympics. She is still the only Indian woman weightlifter to win an Olympic medal.
There are many Indian athletes who have brought fame to India but sadly has been forgotten by this cricket-centric country. After 20 years, finally, her story from Srikakulam to Sydney will reach to the people.
Kona Venkat has written the biopic of Karnam Malleswari. He told: “A poor girl from a remote village in Srikakulam district won the bronze medal for India in the Olympics. That is definitely a big story to narrate.”
Telugu director Sanjana Reddy, who shares the same hometown with Malleswari will direct this multilingual movie that has a reported budget of Rs 70 crore. The script and casting are yet to be finalised.
Karnam Malleswari revealed that she was not after fame and money during her playing days just like the other athletes of that time. She told Indian Express in an interview: “If I’m honest, it didn’t bother me that much at the time. Our mind was never in that direction. Athletes today know that they want the money, the publicity – we never had that knowledge at the time. Our motivation was that there were international competitions every three months and losing in any of them would be shameful. But at that time, we never realised that money and fame is important as well.”
She wants people to see her as she is with all the struggles and sacrifices she had to make to reach those heights which is unbelievable for an Indian women weightlifter. She said: “My only request was that Karnam Malleswari should be seen for what she is. My struggles, my training, all the coaches I went through – it must be there for all to see.”
Do check out:
All the latest 2019-20 kits of football teams from all over the world are now available on Tech2Sports. Superior quality kits at the lowest price guaranteed. Show your support for your favourite club and country by wearing their colours.
