Saina Nehwal and Parineeti Chopra to watch each other’s ‘sets’

The next few months are extremely crucial for Saina Nehwal in her run-up to the Olympics scheduled for 2020. It’s coincidental that her biopic, Saina, directed by Amole Gupte, is on floors while she preps for the big competition. Saina, however, plans to visit the film set created inside a sports arena in Navi Mumbai, when Parineeti starts filming the portions depicting some of the key matches in her badminton career.
Talking about making time to help the movie production team that is working on her biopic, Saina told BT, “It’s difficult to say how I will make the time to involve myself with the biopic.I am always a message, or a phone call away but being physically present will be difficult because I’m in the middle of the run before the Olympics. I have a long line-up of matches, too, but I will definitely try and visit the set. Meanwhile, I have invited Parineeti to watch some of my matches. There will be a lot to learn by watching me live and in action. She’s been watching videos religiously, but this might help her better. I was surprised that she even gave the nod to play my character on screen. Sports like boxing, wrestling and cricket are not as technically challenging as tennis and badminton are. They only look easy. I just want to help Parineeti make the film look good on the court. I’m sure she will pull off the rest on her own.”
Given that Parineeti sustained a knee injury while prepping, Saina also advised her on how to stay fit during the course of the shoot. “I’ve asked her to work on strengthening her core and take more care of her knees and shoulders among other things. Once these things in the body are in line, she will be less likely to face injuries while shooting. She has been good so far, and I hope she stays so. Anything can happen in a sport. One injury during a training session could force me to go off action for a few weeks or months. So, I know what she must have endured while practicing badminton — the initial days of body ache and the sleepless nights can get to people. But she’s gone past that and I believe that she will do it well.”