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While some years tend to be sequel-heavy, 2024 has been a biopics-heavy one. In six months, we have had an equal number of them, two on eminent political figures, two on sportsmen, one on a business entrepreneur and one on a musical prodigy. And the seventh month—July—will see the seventh biopic of the year in Sarfira, a remake of the Tamil film, Soorarai Pottru (2020) which is an adaptation of G.R. Gopinath’s memoir, Simply Fly: A Deccan Odyssey, for he set out to make affordable airlines for low-income people.
Main Atal Hoon
The biopic on the late Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, starred the redoubtable Pankaj Tripathi in the title-role, whose resemblance to Vajpayee was not so much but was beautifully enhanced by the actor through gestures, expressions, smiles and general body language. The Ravi Jadhav-directed film encapsulated Vajpayee’s diverse aspects as orator, social worker, student, freedom fighter, politician and finally minister and Prime Minister, besides being a peace-loving poet and an inclusive nationalist and staunch patriot. But the narration turned a shade dry and episodic due to the massive material that had to be collected and also because Vajpayee, largely, had been a non-controversial persona. The film did not do well. It had a pathetic lifetime India collection of Rs. 8.65 crore.
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Swatantrya Veer Savarkar
The film marked the debut of Randeep Hooda as producer, director and co-writer and he also essayed the role of the iconic freedom fighter. Sadly, its length was excessive and it was again largely episodic, with excess footage devoted to Savarkar’s incarceration in the Andaman Cellular Jail. Again, the film proved episodic, was too dry and dark (literally!) unlike a 2001 biopic on the same personality. As Savarkar, Randeep put in an astute, nuanced performance, but the final result disappointed. Said to be made on a budget of Rs. 20 crore, it is said to have made Rs. 25 crore at the box-office and most sources have billed it as “Average”.
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Maidaan
Arguably the most intense and hard-hitting biopics of the year, it was also the longest at 181 minutes, and probably this was one reason, apart from its Eid release when people want “happy” or entertaining films, why it collapsed. Nevertheless, this Amit Ravindernath Sharma film was brilliant in every way—in content as well as technique—and Ajay Devgn was even declared a “candidate” for a third National award! The true story of Syed Abdul Rahim, a passionate football coach, whose die-hard ardor to make India a prominent player in football led to multiple glories for our country and international platforms, was a qualitative winner but a commercial calamity. It netted Rs. 54 crore on a much-higher production budget.
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Amar Singh Chamkila
Another superbly conceived biopic, this time on the highest-ever selling music sensation from Punjab and his abbreviated life (he was murdered during a live show), this, along with Maidaan, was probably the best of the films this year on real people. Directed by Imtiaz Ali, it had a unique soundtrack of the original songs of Amar Singh Chamkila, performed live by Diljit Dosanjh (who played the title-role) and Parineeti Chopra (who played his wife and singing partner, Amarjoy), blended with evocative A.R. Rahman creations. Released only on Netflix, it is said to have crossed over 2.4 million views in its opening weekend alone (April 12 to 14) and has since then gone way past the 5 million mark globally.
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Srikanth
A sub-genre this year was a biopic of the physically-challenged. Rajkummar Rao brought to life a visually-challenged man who dreams of becoming a business entrepreneur and tycoon. He succeeds, becomes arrogant for a while, and realizes the error of his ways. Srikanth Bhola’s journey from a gifted childhood to a man who, on merit, gains admission in the famous Massachusetts Institute of Technology in USA and his rock-iron decision to come back to home country and serve the nation while fulfilling his own dreams was a feel-good saga written and directed by Tushar Hiranandani. Inspiring no end, it netted over Rs. 50 crore.
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Chandu Champion
Kabir Khan is a past master at recounting stories close to life, whether real (The Forgotten Army—Azaadi Ke Liye) or fictional (Kabul Express), and has attempted a sports drama (83) as well. This time, he chose to narrate the life of Paralympic swimmer Murlikant Petkar with a de-glam hero (!) in Kartik Aaryan. Lacing the narrative with lots of humor and emotional sensitivity, he came up with a winner, which has started slow but will in due course, reaffirm both Kartik’s and Kabir’s credentials. As of now, in less than a week, Chandu Champion has sailed past the Rs. 30 crore mark—and counting.
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