Indian cricket hero Sachin Tendulkar looks set to move even closer to super-human status next month when the curtain goes up on a Hindi musical based on his colossal achievements.
Main Sachin Tendulkar (I Sachin Tendulkar) is loosely based on the life of the batting legend, pop singer Shaan said on Tuesday.
He has been rehearsing songs for the show directed by Sabyasachi Dev Burman and has the honour of singing playback for the as-yet unnamed actor who will play Sachin.
”There are eight songs in the musical and I have sung four of them,” said Shaan.
The musical is due to open in the western commercial hub of Mumbai, where Sachin was brought up.
”Sachin is a very nice guy and I am happy to be associated with the project,” added Shaan, who uses one name.
Burman, a former dramatics teacher at Bombay’s famous Poddar College who has scripted some Bollywood films and television serials, has already cast about 30 actors, mostly newcomers, including the stage Sachin, according to Bollywood reports.
”It is not exactly about the life and times of Sachin Tendulkar,” Burman told journalists.
”It takes on Tendulkar’s excellence in the cricket world which in turn leads to a series of events and happenings in the life of the common man,” he said.
The promoters of the show are still seeking Sachin’s cooperation before the curtain goes up.
Tendulkar, who made his Test debut during the 1989-90 season at the age of 16, has acquired demi-god status in India, scoring 9 470 runs from 114 Tests with 33 centuries — just one short of Sunil Gavaskar’s world record tally of 34 hundreds.
The 31-year-old Sachin — at present nursing a tennis elbow — is also the most successful batsman in one-day history with a record 13 134 runs from 333 matches, including 37 centuries.
The combined Test and one-day tally of 22,604 runs and 70 centuries makes him the most prolific run-scorer of all time. – Sapa-AFP