Cricket establishment's pin-up boy Modi makes it to Bollywood

Dubai: Love him or hate him, but none can ignore him — that's Lalit Modi for you. The Indian cricket establishment's pin-up boy may soon become the subject of a fictional ‘biopic' that a leading Bollywood production house is planning on him.

Confirming the news, Shailendra Singh, joint managing director of Percept Picture Company (PPC) told Gulf News that a team of writers is now working on a story line for the film, tentatively titled The Commisioner.

"Once Modi had agreed to the idea last November, we have commissioned a team of writers to finalise a script which would show his journey in a way that would be commercially viable.

"It will be a fictional biopic like Guru, which was modelled after the life of Dhirubhai Ambani," Singh said. Commenting on what attracted them towards Modi, a colourful yet controversial character, Singh said: "Apart from creating IPL which had been the most successful sports business model in recent times, his life has all the ingredients to make a fascinating story.

Drawn

"His passion for the game, the label of being a rebel in the family, stories of opening a night club in the college complex when he studied in the US — all drew us to it. However, both us and Modi have agreed that the project will take off only if both parties are satisfied with the storyline."

Asked about the deadline for the film to go to the shooting floors, Singh said while they had initially planned to get it ready by the World Cup 2011, it may have to wait longer than that.

And whom would they consider for the lead role? "Initially, we had thought of Shah Rukh Khan but given his commitments over the next two years, it looks unlikely. If the script demands an intense performer, we may go for Irrfan Khan but otherwise, it could be one of the younger actors like Shahid Kapoor," Singh revealed.

Will the film be about IPL too? Singh said that since it's Modi's claim to fame, quite a substantial part of it would definitely revolve around the league. "We hope to involve a large number of famous international cricketers too," he said.