The life story of Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, will now be told through a Bollywood biopic, Viacom18 Motion Pictures announced on Tuesday. She hopes it inspires young girls to explore sports as a career.
The rights for the biopic of the cricket star have been acquired by the studio which has backed content-driven films like Queen, Manjhi: The Mountain Man, Drishyam, Mary Kom, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Toilet: Ek Prem Katha in the past.
“I am extremely happy on this association with Viacom18 Motion Pictures. Hoping that this movie inspires more people especially young girls to take up sports as a career,” Mithali said in a statement.
Mithali Raj is the highest run-scorer in women’s international cricket and the only woman cricketer to surpass the 6,000 run mark in ODIs. She is also the first player to score 7 consecutive 50s in ODIs, apart from being the first Indian to have led the national team to an ICC ODI World Cup final twice – 2005 and 2017.
An Arjuna awardee, Mithali was also honoured with the Padma Shri in 2015, India’s fourth highest civilian award for her contribution to cricket.
Ajit Andhare, COO, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, said in a statement: “Viacom18 Motion Pictures has always been the pioneer in showcasing content with portrayal of strong women characters right from Queen to Kahaani to Mary Kom.
“We are proud to be collaborating with the young and inspirational Mithali Dorai Raj, a name single-handedly responsible in bringing about a shift in the way women’s cricket team was perceived in our country.”
The association between Viacom18 Motion Pictures and Mithali Raj has been facilitated by Varun Chopra – Director, Medallin Sports.
Chopra said: “Mithali remains to be an inspiration for multitudes for many years now and her story on the silver screen will keep motivating generations.”