Confirmed: Arun Gopy to direct IM Vijayan biopic
Reports about a biopic on Indian footballer IM Vijayan has been doing the rounds for a long time now. Few months back, there were unconfirmed reports about director Arun Gopy planning to do a movie with a Nivin Pauly, but there were no further updates. The director, in a recent interview, has confirmed that he is indeed doing a biopic on IM Vijayan. When asked if Nivin would be playing the lead, Arun informed that the casting has not yet been finalized.
According to him, the movie was supposed to go on floors much earlier, but the release of ‘Captain’, forced the delay. ‘Captain’ was based on the life of late Indian footballer VP Sathyan. Apparently, Arun has completed the script works for the movie and has also zeroed in on the locations, but he is not sure about when shoot would be commencing.
IM Vijayan is unarguably one of the finest footballers that the country has ever produced. Popularly known as the ‘kala hiran’ or ‘black pearl of India’, Vijayan was crowned Indian Player of the Year in 1993, 1997 and 1999. Starting from a humble background as a soda seller in football grounds, Vijayan eventually became the highest earning Indian footballer of his time. His journey from rags to riches is a truly inspiring story and it deserves to be told on screen
While talks about his biopic are yet to settle down, Vijayan had also recently announced his new production company. His banner has been named as ‘Big Daddy Entertainment’. He had also confirmed that the first film to come from his production will be a football based one. It remains to be seen if Vijayan himself will be producing his biopic.
Arun Gopy meanwhile is awaiting the release of ‘Irupathiyonnam Noottandu’ starring Pranav Mohanlal. He has also committed for a film with Mohanlal, to be produced by Tomichan Mulakupadam, and another with K Madhu’s banner, Krishna Kripa.
