Noted theatre artiste and Bollywood actor Rajit Kapur, who played the iconic ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ on television, is now back, playing the role of Sachin’s ‘coach’ in a docu drama.
The veteran actor, known for his versatility, is busy shooting in Mumbai for director Pramod Purswane’s docu-drama titled Sir , which largely talks about the life of the legendary coach, Ramakant Achrekar. While the major part of the film on Tendulkar’s mentor is already shot, the director is now filming a few important sequences with Kapur in the key role. “It is a great thing to have a terrific actor like Rajit on board. I have already shot quite a few scenes with him, and a few more are left,” Purswane says.
The film, which the director claims is not a biopic, will have Tendulkar talk about how coach Achrekar helped him become a superstar. The title, which too has been suggested by the Little Master, will also see Achrekar’s other students — Pravin Amre, Chandrakant Pandit, Amol Muzumdar, Ajit Tendulkar, Atul Ranade — narrating stories about their beloved mentor.
Even Kapur is excited to be a part of the project. “When the director approached me, I listened to the idea to understand the requirement. Since there’s not much footage of Achrekar available, we decided to go with a character play. We still have a few more sequences to shoot.”
Achrekar’s student and former cricketer Atul Ranade, who has brought everyone together for the project, too is looking forward to the film. “It is not a biopic. It deals with the student-teacher relationship and also shows how Achrekar sir produced a talent like Sachin. When we discussed the idea with Sachin and his brother Ajit, they too were excited,” Ranade said, adding that Purswane’s film will help youngsters learn the importance of a teacher-student bonding.
After receiving a National Award for his documentary, And We Play On in 2011, Purswane and producer Ashutosh Upadhyay spent three years shooting Sir. “We wanted to tell a story on how Achrekar supported his wards despite his own financial difficulties. It is rare in today’s times, where youngsters struggle because there is no one like Achrekar to help them out,” Pursawne explained.
The film also has quite a bit on India’s U-19 cricketer Sarfaraz Khan, who hogged the limelight for his Indian Premier League (IPL) stint with the Royal Challengers Bangalore. “The idea was to show how a promising youngster like Sarfaraz, hailing from a lower-middle class family, struggles because there is no one to help him out. That’s how we are connecting the story with Achrekar Sir,” Purswane says.
While the director hopes to wrap up the shoot by next month, the film is likely to hit the theatres on December 3 — Achrekar’s birthday.
