Fans have been wanting to add Neeraj Chopra to Bollywood’s repository of sports biopics for a while now. The Olympic javelin medalist has finally spoken. Sharing his views on the possibility of his biopic in a Hindustan Times interview, he said it’s still too early for him to have one. “I feel biopics should be made after a person retires,” he shared. But he also revealed that if it were to happen, he would like Randeep Hooda to portray him.
He feels that the recipe for a successful biopic is to include all major milestones that an athlete achieves in his career. “We have seen movies made on milestones, but mere hisaab se jitna aur add kar sakein career mein, country ke liye kuch kar sakein aur javelin ko apne desh mein aur popular kar sakein utna achcha hoga.” (According to me, making a biopic later will ensure that all the important contributions of the person can be included. I think it will be better if I can make the javelin throw more popular in the country.)
On being asked if he had any actor in his mind who could play him on screen, he responded, “I can only think of Randeep Hooda. He is a great actor and he is from Haryana. Jo bhi role play karega woh wahan ki language sahi se bole woh zaroori hai (Whoever plays the role should be able to say my language properly).”
Would he want to play himself in the biopic? “Acting in a movie would be tough, but ads kar leta hoon main. People liked my credit card ad a lot, but it was tough for me, as I had never acted before. But, mujhe nahin lagta main acting ke liye bana hoon, (I can do ad, but I don’t think I am made for acting),” he responded.
Neeraj Chopra became the first Asian javelin throw athlete to win a gold medal at the 2020 Olympics. He bagged a silver medal at the 2024 Olympics. He was awarded the Arjuna Award for sporting excellence in 2018, the Khel Ratna Award in 2021, and Padma Shri in 2022.
