Of dribbling, passing & shooting, this time for ‘reel’

This piece of information is bound to leave the Sania Mirzas (belated happy birthday, Sania), Joshna Chinappas, Dipika Pallikals, Tania Sachdevs and all the other glamour dolls of Indian sport slightly green-eyed.

These elite sportswomen have written and rewritten history with their path-breaking performances. And over the years, they have — through their curves, serves, and moves — kept the shutterbugs busy. None of them, though, has managed to land a role in a film.

Sisters Prashanti and Akanksha Singh are here to change all that. The duo is also set to act in a movie based well and truly on their beloved sport — basketball.

The 27-year-old Prashanti, who is, in fact, the captain of the national team — currently taking part at the Asian Games in Guangzhou — is well-known for her sharp features.

‘Unofficial’ polls on the internet have named the Varanasi-born shooting guard India’s hottest sportswoman on more than one occasion. What’s more, she donned her favourite jersey and posed for a leading fashion magazine this year.

Akanksha, five years younger, is the bubblier of the two. She’s the happy-go-lucky type, but make no mistake, her looks can leave you spellbound. The 22-year-old, like her sister, works and plays for Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) in the capital.

“Yes, it’s true that we have been approached. We have been asked to play ourselves. I think this will be a completely new experience. I haven’t read the script, but I have been told that it’s a movie based purely on basketball. For now, though, we are focusing on the Asian Games,” Prashanti told DNA, shortly before the Indian contingent flew to Guangzhou.

Interestingly, Ajit Kuriakose Varghese, the movie’s script writer, is a basketballer himself. The movie (4 pm On The Court), he says, will be a “coming-of-age film” and “the first of its kind”.

Well, every movie is supposed to be unique, but when the 46-year-old tells you that the entire flick will be shot on a basketball court, you can’t but raise your eyebrows. “There are over 350 Hollywood movies based on basketball, but not one has been shot completely on one court,” Varghese says, matter of factly.

He then goes on to describe the script. “A bunch of collegemates are shown playing the game. After sweating it out for over two hours, they indulge in some friendly banter and leg-pulling stuff. This becomes a ritual. About a month later, two girls (Prashanti and Akanksha) join the college for a sports medicine programme. They go up to these boys and ask if they could play along. Moments later, their true identity is revealed and the boys are obviously left stunned,” Varghese explains.

The idea, Varghese says, is to portray the face of Indian women’s basketball. I want to show that this isn’t a game played by female thugs. I also want to show that playing basketball will do no harm to a woman’s body or figure. There are a lot of stereotypes about the game and women playing it. All that must change. We need to get more people on the court,” Varghese adds.

The movie will have five songs — yes, all on the court — and will be complete with a passionate kiss (no, neither sister will do that!). There could be one or two surprises too. An American coach could also play a cameo.

“Shooting begins in February in Kerala. It’s basically a Hindi movie with a bit of English. The budget is around Rs4 crore I am confident this will be a path-breaking movie,” says director Shine Krishna.