Farhan Akhtar on what makes for good biopics
Chaya Unnikrishnan (DNA; December 24, 2015)
Farhan Akhtar, who won acclaim for his turn as Milkha Singh in Bhaag Milkha Bhaag feels there are several personalities on whom biopics can be made.
He reasons, “A million stories can be told, but the important thing in a biopic, as in the Milkha film, is he was willing to share every aspect of his life. Not just about his victories, but also the dark side of his life. His romances with women before his marriage, his failures, etc. The person has to open himself up. That’s where the story lies, not in what the world knows about them. That makes for a good biopic.”
He has already played one sportsperson on screen, but there’s another personality from sports whose biopic Farhan is interested in making (not necessarily portraying) and that is former cricket captain Kapil Dev. “He led us to our first World Cup victory. It was a great moment for India, but today’s generation does not know much about him. Of course, during his time people knew lot about him, and his story is very inspirational,” says Farhan.
The actor-singer feels that apart from sports, many people from the world of music make a good subject for biopics. “From KL Saigal to composers and lyricists, they make for some great stories.” Tell him that attempts have been made to produce a biopic of the legendary singer-actor Kishore Kumar, but it hasn’t taken off — the latest being Anurag Basu’s biopic that was to star Ranbir Kapoor and he says, “That’s the thing. It’s important for people who are responsible for his life, to share his story. It all depends on how much they are willing to share. When you are making a biopic, people watching it have to take something back. They have to share what on the face of it could be ugly. That’s what makes it interesting.”