Tamil's first sports biopic to be on Rio star Mariyappan

CHENNAI: It’s the season of biopics. After Mohammed Azharuddin, M S Dhoni and the Phogat sisters, it’s the turn of Tamil Nadu para-athlete T Mariyappan, who became the toast of the nation after his stunning golden show in the men’s high jump in the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

Aishwaryaa R Dhanush

, daughter of superstar Rajinikanth, will direct the first-ever sports biopic in Tamil titled – “Mariyappan”. The first look of the film was released by Shah Rukh Khan on Twitter on new year’s day.

His tweet, “Here’s presenting the first look of the biopic on #MariyappanThangavelu, our very own national hero, all the best @ash_r_dhanush” set the social media ablaze.

Soon Aishwaryaa herself retweeted Shah Rukh’s tweet, stating: “Thank you so much ! A very happy new year to you and the family.”

The film is also likely to be shot in English with a bigger audience in mind. The cast hasn’t been finalised, and it’s Mariyappan himself on the poster.

“Everything looks like a dream for me. When Aishwaryaa madam approached me with this idea, I didn’t know how to react. But my mother and I were over the moon upon hearing it. This movie will certainly be an inspiration for not only differently-abled people but for those talented athletes who are struggling in rural places as well,” Mariyappan told TOI on Sunday.

Mariyappan had earlier said that he was a bit clueless and shocked as media personnel gathered in numbers upon his arrival from Rio. However, he “wasn’t afraid” when he had to face the camera for the first look of the film. “Initially, I was a bit taken aback by all the media presence and cameras. But I wasn’t afraid when I did the shoot for the poster, ” he laughs.

Mariyappan said, “I have never seen any biopic. I still haven’t even watched the Dhoni movie. In fact I haven’t seen a film since my performance in the Rio. Most of the people in my locality aren’t aware of the biopic yet. I’m eager to see how they react once they come to know about it.” Mariyappan stated that director Aishwaryaa discussed with him about his Paralympic journey a couple of months ago. “I told her everything I had faced in life till date. My mother spoke as well. The crew also spent a lot of time with my coach R Satyanarayana on various techniques and training methods. As of now, I’m supposed to meet her on January 5,” he added.

Satyanarayana said the movie would touch the hearts of the entire nation. “There are a lot of talented athletes like Mariyappan in the country. They need motivation and inspiration. I think this movie will touch the hearts of the people,” he added.

Having been a poster boy, will Mariyappan play the lead role himself? “No. Not me,” confirmed Mariyappan. “During the discussion Satya sir and I told them that I won’t be acting as I have to focus on the upcoming World Championship and that I need to train even harder to achieve glory,” he added. However, Satya said he will provide basic training and necessary inputs to the cast.

It is learnt that the cast for the movie hasn’t yet been confirmed. “The pre-production work has begun. As of now the movie is a bilingual (English and Tamil). But nothing has been decided regarding other languages. The dates for shooting are also not yet confirmed,” a source mentioned.