Legendery sports jour nalist Moti Nandi’s novel Bicycle Kick, based on famous football star Shyam Thapa’s exploits, will be turned into a film soon. Bicycle Kick will be the third sports film based on Nandi’s writings after ‘Striker’ and ‘Koni’.
Koni had bagged a national award. Young filmmaker Debashis Sen Sharma told PTI his film would be a tribute to Nandi. “My film is a tribute to the late sports scribe Moti Nandi, a legend in his lifetime, as I still remember how his writings on Shyam Thapa’s movement in the opponent penalty box and the bicycle shots he often indulged in electrified his readers,” he said.
The first authentic Bengali sports film ‘Striker’ was based on Nandi’s eponymous novel on the struggle of a lower middle class nimble-footed youth’s fight to get a toehold in the fiercely competitive Kolkata football arena.
It had many footages and references of Maidan football of the 70s. “Bicycle kick also referred to that era. So you can call it completing the circle. Football and the Bengalis have a long connection, dating back ages,” he pointed out. Bicycle Kick is a movie where the character, Motida, has a non-physical presence as the narrator who turns the life of a 19-year-old football talent from poor background, Rubayet, into a success and also presents that to his audience.
“Like ‘Striker’, this movie also seeks to convey a message that one can rise above one’s immediate circumstances, setbacks, obstacles and fear of failure to become successful in life,” he said. (PTI)