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Coming soon: The Dutee Chand biopic!

By LAXMI NEGI
July 14, 2020 15:25 IST

Photograph: Kind courtesy Dutee Chand/Instagram

Ace sprinter and India's first openly gay athlete, Dutee Chand recently asked those in same sex relationships to be courageous and stand firm.

The 24 year old was rejected by her family last year for being in a same sex relationship.

"I worked hard to make my family proud and get us all the comforts in life, but why am I not allowed entry the very house I built?" Dutee asks Rediff.com's Laxmi Negi in the concluding segment of a two-part interview:

 

Why is your relationship with your sister strained?

In 2019, when I came out in open about my relationship, my sister did not support me. There were various allegations and mud-slinging.

To tell you about my family, I have to take you back to 2009 when my brother decided to marry the girl he loved.

My elder sister created havoc in his life and did not accept his bride. There were arguments, and assault too. My brother left the house and never came back.

My sister threatened me about exposing my life in the media.

I did not want to be pressurised by her and came out in the open about my relationship (a same sex relationship with a younger relative from her village).

This year, when I had gone to my village during the Raja festival, my sister did not allow me to meet my parents.

I was very disappointed. Some of our neighbours revealed that I have a bhabhi in my house.

My didi has been in a same sex relationship with a girl from Assam for the last five or six years.

She had been staying with that girl in our home on the pretext of providing her training and claiming she is her student.

I spent Rs 70 lakh to build that house in our village for my parents, but my sister and her partner are staying there while I have been hounded out.

She was once protesting my relationship, but now I see that she is herself doing the same thing.

I don't protest against her status because it is her personal life and she can live it the way she wants, but why is she protesting against my decision?

I worked hard to make my family proud and get us all the comforts in life, but why am I not allowed entry the very house I built?

IMAGE: A film on Dutee Chand will begin shooting next year. Photograph: Shahbaz Khan/PTI

Dutee also reveals that numerous film-makers are keen on making a biopic on her.

"I have got requests from so many film-makers who are keen to make my biopic," she reveals, "but I haven't given the nod yet."

"Apart from Anil Kapoor and Rakeysh Mehra (who made Bhaag Milkha Bhaag), a lot of actors and actresses have independently reached out," she adds.

India's fastest woman, who holds the National record of 11.22 seconds in the 100 metres, has given the film rights to her life to Kadambini Media, founded by Dr Achyuta Samanta, entrepreneur, MP and a long-time mentor.

Kadambini Media will decide which film-maker gets the opportunity to make the Dutee Chand biopic.

LAXMI NEGI / Rediff.com

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