Rajkummar Rao, who is all set to portray the character of former India captain, Sourav Ganguly, in his biopic, will be in Kolkata for a month after the Durga Puja. The versatile actor will be staying with Ganguly, trying to get deeply into the character. The idea is simple: To live the character, observe the mannerisms, and absorb the personality of a man who carried Indian cricket on his shoulders. Known for his roles in films like Newton, Aligarh, Stree, Srikanth and Kai Po Che, Rajkummar has already started taking his cricket lessons.
“Rajkummar is perfectly fit for this role,” said Vikaramaditya Motwane, director of the biopic to Revsportz.
It has been years in the making, but the much-anticipated biopic on Ganguly is finally set to roll cameras in January next year. After a string of delays, the project is now gathering momentum.
On Wednesday, director Motwane and his team visited Ganguly’s residence in Behala. A day earlier, producer Ankur Garg of Luv Films had done a recce of the locations in Kolkata maidan, including the likes of Eden Gardens and Dukhiram Cricket Coaching Centre. This groundwork is part of a larger plan to root the film in authenticity because telling the story of Ganguly demands nothing less.
Inside the Behala home, Motwane and his team sat down with Sourav and Dona Ganguly for long conversations that went beyond cricket. The filmmaker, who broke through with Udaan in 2010 and went on to craft acclaimed works such as Lootera, Trapped, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero and the cult series Sacred Games, admits this will be a different challenge altogether.
According to Motwane, “The main challenge will be the period setting. That’s always tough because it’s a different era—20 to 25 years ago. Also, making it entertaining for the general public is an even bigger challenge. You want the audience to connect with the story, but not feel lost if they don’t know the background. Finding that middle ground is key.”
He added, “Some of the younger audience hasn’t lived through that golden generation of Indian cricket like we did—Sachin, Dravid, Laxman, and Dada (Ganguly). So, you have to make the film appealing to everyone, not just the fans.”
A major part of the film will be shot in Kolkata and Mumbai. Motwane and his team took note of every corner of 2/6 Biren Roy Road East. The terrace where memories linger, the room where love blossomed, the spaces that shaped a boy into the Prince of Kolkata. Dona, during the recce, guided the crew through these personal spaces, ensuring no detail was overlooked.
The film, mounted on a ₹250-crore budget, will largely focus on Ganguly’s cricketing journey, though the cast is still under wraps. Who plays Dona is a question that remains unanswered, with names swirling but no confirmation. The producer is planning additional schedules in England and Australia.
For Motwane and Garg, this is more than a film. It’s about doing justice to a man whose aggressive captaincy redefined Indian cricket and whose aura still fuels the passion of millions. “We will try and make a perfect biopic of someone who inspired generations,” Motwane said.
If everything goes according to plan, the film will be released by the end of 2026. And when it does, Indian cricket fans may finally get to see Ganguly’s story not just told, but lived frame by frame, on the big screen.
Also Read: The threat of a FIFA ban very real if Indian football doesn’t clean up its mess