Harshvardhan Kapoor: Abhinav Bindra biopic a mammoth responsibility

Harshvardhan Kapoor and Abhinav Bindra

Harshvardhan Kapoor and Abhinav Bindra

Right from his Bollywood debut, Harshvardhan Kapoor expressed his interest in experimenting with unconventional subjects. And he is walking the talk. After making an unusual debut in Mirzya (2016) and choosing Vikramaditya Motwane's vigilante drama 'Bhavesh Joshi' for his second outing, the actor is now busy preparing for his third film -- a biopic on Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra.

Aware that recreating the ace shooter's journey on the big screen is a tall order, Kapoor has taken it upon himself to oversee the creative aspects of the drama. He has even brought writer Abhay Koranne on board.

Reveals a source, "Apart from prepping as an actor, Harsh is creatively involved in the film. The biopic is consuming all his time these days."

Directed by Kannan Iyer, the film is being adapted from Bindra's autobiography A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold. While retaining the book's authenticity, the creative team - including Iyer, Koranne and Kapoor - is attempting to explore the various layers to Bindra's personality.

"Every few weeks, Kannan and Abhay meet Abhinav, and get him to shed light on various aspects of his life. This is really helping them in the writing process," adds the source. Kapoor, on his part, too has had a few meetings with Bindra. "Harsh also visited the Navi Mumbai shooting range to meet Abhinav's coach. He even checked out the rifles, in an attempt to get a feel of the whole thing."

Excited about the "collaboration of different creative minds", Kapoor says, "The biopic is a big responsibility because of the subject matter. It is the most mammoth responsibility I've ever shouldered. I roped in Abhay, who wrote the final draft of Bhavesh Joshi, to work on a new draft of the Bindra biopic. We are taking the script into a really exciting place. It's about externalising internal conflicts, and making it emotionally and visually spectacular."

Prernaa Arora, who is co-producing the drama with Arjun N Kapoor and Anil Kapoor, says, "I strongly believed in Harsh ever since I saw him in Mirzya. He is very dedicated, and the kind of homework he is doing for the film is astonishing."