Kapil Dev debuts in Bollywood

The invitation card reads 2 pm. Kapil Dev, famous cricketer, makes his entry three hours later.

By Indian standard time, he is on schedule. It is a Sunday afternoon. And everyone is keen to see the cricket legend act in a Hindi film.

Kapil Dev is scheduled for a mahurat shot for Aryan, with Sohail Khan in the lead. Yesteryear hero Jeetendra gave the mahurat clap.

The sets are designed like television studios. There are two padded swivel chairs and a table in the centre. Kapil Dev and Sohail Khan take their seats.

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Debutant director Abhishek Kapoor yells, "Silence."

Everyone looks expectantly at the sports star as he gets ready to deliver his first dialogue.

Sohail: What

is the most important thing one needs to have to become a great cricketer?

Kapil: Discipline, dedication and determination are the key ingredients to become a successful sportsman. If you have these, nothing can stop you from becoming a great sportsman.

[The director intervenes and tells Dev that he could read the script and answer. But Dev looks confident and shrugs it off.]

Sohail: If you weren't a cricketer, what would you have been?

Kapil: I don't know. But I would have never been able to do a 9 to 5 job. I would have gone mad or probably never enjoyed life.

In half an hour, the shot was over. Kapil did not require any retakes. His first day of shooting was done.

Aryan revolves around a boxer (played by Sohail Khan) who gives up boxing because of personal problems and becomes a sports journalist. His job is to interview sports celebrities for a television channel. Kapil Dev is one of the guests in the show.

"I am happy someone has decided to make a film on sportsmen," said Kapil Dev. "We need more films on sportsmen so that youngsters are encouraged to become Tendulkars, P T Ushas and Leander Paes's in our country."

The film also stars Inder Kumar, newcomer Sneha Ulal, Gulshan Grover, Satish Shah and Farida Jalal. Music is composed by Anand Raj Anand.

Producer Vipin Anand says, "The film is a love story. I wanted someone who is an icon in his own sports field. There is no one better than Kapil Dev in our country. He is an inspiration to Aryan, the hero of the film."

Interestingly, this is Kapil Dev's first film. He had earlier tried his hand in Dharmendra's film last year. But the film was shelved. He has also acted in two episodes of Sony Television's CID.

"I am happy to work with him," says Sohail Khan. "He has inspired me in real life. Now, I will be inspired in reel life too. The film says that a man should never give up. He should fight, just like Kapil Dev on the cricket field."

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