Saina Director Amole Gupte Sheds Light On Why Parineeti Chopra Replaced Shraddha Kapoor

Filmmaker Amole Gupte began his research for Badminton player Saina Nehwal’s biopic in 2015. Two years later the champion announced the news on social media officially and in 2018 Shraddha Kapoor began filming. Her pictures from training went viral and netizens began calling Shraddha and Saina twins! However, she later opted out of the project and was replaced by actress Parineeti Chopra. The film is now complete and after teasing fans with the trailer and music videos, Saina is all set to hit theatres this week.

In a recent chat with Mid Day ahead of the release, Amole looked back at his journey and compared making of the film to jumping off a plane, with the parachute refusing to open. He shared, “Saina left the casting to me; she loved both Parineeti and Shraddha. I don’t audition a lot, believing that everyone is capable of being a good actor, with a little help. Parineeti has hit the nail on the head.” The filmmaker went on to add that Saina has been playing the sport since she was just eight years old. So, while Parineeti cannot replicate her mastery, the actress gave the film everything she had to replicate the efficiency.

Talking about the cast change, the filmmaker revealed that Shraddha got dengue and by the time she recovered the actress had to shoot for Nitesh Tiwari’s Chhichhore. He explained, “The makers had taken [her dates] two years in advance, so she couldn’t have backed out. After that, when there was a crisis on Street Dancer 3D, they got Shraddha on board. So, Parineeti was brought in for my film in April 2019. It was a smooth transition.”

As they say, all’s well that ends well! Are you excited to watch Parineeti shine on the big screen as Saina?