Indian filmmakers are developing a biographical film about the life of the record runner, the oldest living marathon, 109-year-old Fauji Singh.
The tape will be named "Fauja".
According to Deadline, Omung Kumar is involved in the project as a director, who in 2014 released the film "Mary Kom" about an Indian athlete, six-time world boxing champion.
Priyanka Chopra played the main role in that tape.
Kumar will also be producing Fauji with Kunal Shivdasani (2008 film Capture) and Raaj Shaandiliaa (Dream Girl, 2019).
The script will be based on the book Turbaned Tornado: The Oldest Marathon Runner Fauja Singh, written by the author of the historical novel Train to Pakistan, Khushwant Singh.
"The story of Fauj Singh tells about the insurmountable difficulties that faced him and about what an elderly, not shining health, oppressed by society man is capable of due to sheer willpower", - said the director of the film Omung Kumar.
Project producer Kunal Shivdasani added that Fauji Singh's life has turned into an "epic adventure" that has had a significant impact not only on the athlete himself, but also on many other people.
“Having discovered in himself his love for marathon running, he becomes a world icon.
Ultimately, this allowed him to contribute to the structure of the world, making people change, ”explained Shivdasani.
He also noted that Omung Kumar's choice as director was obvious to the team, as he had previously directed two successful Indian biopics, Sarabjit and Mary Kom.
In addition, Kunal Shivdasani stressed that his vision of the new picture completely coincides with the director's opinion about it.
“We can't wait to present this story to viewers who have been deprived of cinema in the usual sense for some time.
The goal of our film is to make the story of Fauji Singh's amazing life journey close to every viewer, ”said Shivdasani.
Raaj Shaandiliaa also promised that the film would easily attract audiences with its unusual story and atmosphere of the past.
“Fauja Singh is a real king.
It is a great honor for all of us to cinematically present his life story to the Indian diaspora around the world.
This story gives us the opportunity to travel back in time and clearly understand what a generation of our grandfathers and grandmothers went through.
This film guarantees instant communication (with the viewer - RT), ”said the producer.
© REUTERS / Andy Clark
Fauja Singh was born in 1911 in the state of Punjab in northwestern British India.
As a child, Fauja was a sickly child, and in his youth he was carried away by running, but left this hobby in favor of work - for most of his life Singh, like his ancestors, was a farmer.
After moving to the UK in the 1990s, following the children who had emigrated, he returned to jogging.
And at the age of 89, he took up running seriously.
In 2000, Singh ran the London Marathon - while preparing for the competition, he thought he had to cover 26 km, not 26 miles (42 km).
Nevertheless, the man mastered the distance.
At the age of one hundred, he set several world records for his age group.
In 2012, at the age of 101, he competed in the Olympic torch relay at the London Summer Games.
Singh ended his active competitive activity after the Hong Kong marathon in 2013, but continued to run for charitable purposes and for his own pleasure.
Indians in biopics
Famous Indian athletes, politicians and scientists have repeatedly come to the attention of filmmakers.
For example, in 1982 the biographical drama Gandhi about the life of Mahatma Gandhi, the ideologist of the movement for Indian independence from Great Britain, was released.
The painting by Richard Attenborough (Young Winston, Shadowland) received many prestigious awards (eight Oscars, five Golden Globes, five BAFTAs and others) and grossed an impressive box office for those times - about $ 53 million. In 2007, the biopic "My father Gandhi" (Gandhi, My Father) appeared about the relationship of a public figure with his son Harilal.
In 2002, the film The Legend of Bhagat Singh was released, which tells about the life of an Indian revolutionary.
Ten years later, Paan Singh Tomar premiered about an athlete who was forced to become a rebel by circumstances.
The life of athlete Milka Singh formed the basis for the script for the 2013 film Run Milka Run!
(Bhaag Milkha Bhaag).
The story of the mathematician Srinivasa Iyengor, who worked in the field of number theory, was filmed twice.
In 2014, Indian and British filmmakers released a film called Ramanujan, and a year later the more famous drama The Man Who Knew Infinity was released. UK, USA, Singapore, Hong Kong and UAE.
In 2016, the drama Lion, based on the autobiography of the Australian businessman of Indian origin Sarah Brierly, The Long Way Home, was released.
In 2018, the comedy "Padman" premiered about social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantam, who helped popularize feminine hygiene products in poor areas of India.