After
years
of
speculation,
buzz
is
that
the
Kalpana
Chawla
biopic
is
definitely
going
to
be
made.
FilmiBeat
has
learnt
that
the
film
is
going
to
be
helmed
by
Chak
De!
India
director
Shimit
Amin
and
produced
by
Yash
Raj
Films
(YRF).
The
conversation
of
making
a
biopic
on
Kalpana
Chawla
began
about
four
years
ago,
with
Bollywood
actress
Priyanka
Chopra
planning
to
act
in
and
co-produce
the
film
with
Viacom18.
Later,
there
were
rumours
that
actress
Deepika
Padukone
and
Priyanka's
rival
has
been
approached
for
the
role.
However,
it
was
reported
that
the
project
had
been
stalled,
as
Kalpana's
husband
Jean-Pierre
Harrison
had
not
granted
rights
for
it.
Now
after
the
buzz
in
the
trade,
there
is
speculation
about
YRF
producing
it.
However,
some
sources
from
the
trade
also
reveal
that
the
production
house
is
not
doing
the
project.
Kalpana
Chawla
was
an
astronaut
and
engineer
with
the
National
Aeronautics
and
Space
Administration
(NASA),
USA,
being
the
first
woman
of
Indian
origin
to
venture
into
space.
Born
on
17
March
1962,
Kalpana
Chawla
first
flew
on
the
ill-fated
Space
Shuttle
Columbia
in
1997.
Sadly,
on
1
February
2003,
Kalpana
Chawla
died
along
with
six
crew
members
onboard
the
Space
Shuttle
Columbia,
when
the
spacecraft
disintegrated
upon
its
re-entry
into
the
Earth's
atmosphere.
Talking
about
films
revolving
around
space
exploration,
Mission
Mangal,
a
film
directed
by
Jagan
Shakti,
featuring
a
big
star
cast,
released
last
year.
Mission
Mangal
was
based
on
India's
space
mission
to
Mars.
The
film
starred
Akshay
Kumar,
Sonakshi
Sinha,
Vidya
Balan,
Taapsee
Pannu,
Sharman
Joshi,
Kirti
Kulhari,
and
Nithya
Menen,
and
became
one
of
the
biggest
blockbusters
of
2019.
Watch
this
space
for
more
on
the
Kalpana
Chawla
biopic.