Producer
Ritesh
Sidhwani
says,
contrary
to
reports,
the
Akshay
Kumar
starrer
Gold
is
not
a
biopic
on
former
hockey
player
Balbir
Singh
Sr.
It
was
being
reported
that
the
film
is
based
on
the
life
of
hockey
player
Balbir
Singh
-
played
by
Akshay
-
who
was
a
part
of
the
team
that
won
the
first
Olympic
medal
for
India
as
a
free
nation
in
1948.
Sidhwani
clarified
that
his
forthcoming
film,
co-produced
by
Farhan
Akhtar
under
their
production
house
Excel
Entertainment,
is
a
story
based
on
true
events,
not
a
biopic.
"It
is
not
a
biopic.
It
is
a
completely
fictional
story
but
it
is
set
against
a
real
backdrop
between
1933-48
India
about
what
the
country
was,
the
sports...
About
hockey.
It
is
not
based
on
any
character,"
Sidhwani
told
PTI
in
an
interview
here.
Akshay
Kumar
Wraps
up
Gold
shooting
with
this
Stunt;
Watch
Video
|
FilmiBeat
"We
have
set
it
in
real
events
so
people
(often)
confuse
it
with
a
biopic.
It
talks
about
the
era
in
which
we
achieved
Independence
and
what
happened
with
sports,
(primarily)
hockey
at
that
time.
It
is
not
about
a
particular
character
and
Akshay
is
not
even
playing
(hockey
in
the
film).
He
plays
the
manager,"
he
added.
Sidhwani
said
it
was
director
of
the
film,
Reema
Kagti,
who
chose
the
National
Award-winning
actor
for
"Gold".
"When
Reema
came
to
us
with
the
story,
it
was
on
her
wish
list
to
go
to
an
actor.
And
our
job
as
producers
is
to
take
her
to
that
actor,
so
we
did
that.
Akshay
was
her
choice,"
he
said.
It
is
for
the
first
time
that
Excel
Entertainment
has
teamed
up
with
Akshay.
"He
is
the
most
professional
actor.
He
is
dedicated
and
focused
about
his
work.
He
comes
on
the
sets
and
is
there
till
you
don't
finish
the
shoot.
It
is
not
that
he
will
go
and
sit
in
his
vanity
van
or
have
meetings
or
talk
to
people.
"He
is
a
terrific
person.
It
was
pleasure
to
work
with
him.
I
think
this
is
the
beginning
of
many
associations,"
Sidhwani
said.
The
film,
also
featuring
Amit
Sadh
and
Mouni
Roy
in
key
roles,
is
set
to
be
released
on
August
15.
"Gold"
is
the
first
sports
film
to
be
backed
by
their
banner.
Sidhwani
said
it
will
be
followed
by
another
sports
story,
based
on
the
Rio
Paralympics
silver
medallist,
Deepa
Malik.
The
project
is
already
in
the
works.
The
next
most-talked
about
film
is
Zoya
Akhtar-directed
'Gully
Boy',
featuring
Ranveer
Singh
and
Alia
Bhatt.
"We
are
doing
a
story
on
a
hip-hop
artiste
(referring
to
the
film).
It
is
not
based
on
anyone's
life.
It
is
inspired
by
the
hip-hop
circuit
that
exists
in
the
underground
of
this
city.
"We
start
shooting
in
January.
Most
of
the
film
will
be
shot
on
real
locations
in
Mumbai,
we
are
not
going
to
shoot
much
on
the
sets,"
the
producer
said.
Credits:
PTI