Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor on the Abhinav Bindra biopic shelving: 'Moved on to other projects; announcement coming soonish'

In Pic: Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor

The highly anticipated biopic on Olympic gold medallist Abhinav Bindra has officially been shelved. The film, announced in 2017, was set to star Harsh Varrdhan Kapoor in the lead role, with Anil Kapoor co-producing and playing Bindra's father. The actor told mid-day, "Yes, it's not happening at the moment. I have moved on to other projects and [there] will be an announcement soonish."

Despite years of development and excitement surrounding the project, the film fell flat because the script reportedly "lacked the drama and energy required for a feature film." On this, Harsh said, "Whatever's going to come next like my previous films, will be completely new and not routine," Harsh Varrdhan added.

The biopic was supposed to be based on Bindra's autobiography, A Shot at History: My Obsessive Journey to Olympic Gold, which details his relentless pursuit of excellence in shooting and his historic win at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Harsh had been vocal about his passion for the project, emphasizing his desire to stay true to Bindra's journey.

Anil Kapoor had previously reassured fans that the film was still in progress, telling mid-day in an earlier interview, "It is happening. The pre-production is underway. It's going to be a special film." Despite efforts and reassurances, creative challenges persisted, leading to the project's shelving. Harsh, who was last seen in action thriller film Thar (2022), is now focusing on other projects.