Saina is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language biographical sports film directed by Amole Gupte and produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Sujay Jairaj and Rashesh Shah under the banner of T-Series and Front Foot Pictures. Based on the life of badminton player Saina Nehwal, the film stars Parineeti Chopra as Nehwal.[3][4]

Saina
Theatrical release poster
Directed byAmole Gupte
Written byAmole Gupte
Based onSaina Nehwal
Produced byBhushan Kumar
Krishan Kumar
Sujay Jairaj
Rashesh Shah
StarringParineeti Chopra
CinematographyPiyush Shah
Edited byDeepa Bhatia
Music byAmaal Malik
Production
companies
T-Series Films
Front Foot Pictures
Distributed byCinestaan AA Distributors
Release date
  • 26 March 2021 (2021-03-26)[1]
Running time
135 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget26 crores[2]
Box office1.5 crore[2]

The film was initially set to release in September 2020, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in India.[5] It was theatrically released on 26 March 2021 to mixed reviews with praise towards Chopra’s performance.[1]

Plot

edit

The film traces Saina's journey from her training at Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium, Hyderabad, her struggles, her parents sacrifices for her dreams, her passion for badminton, her relationship with Kashyap and her coach Rajan to her becoming World's No.1.

Cast

edit

Production

edit

Development

edit

Saina Nehwal revealing the details of the film, on her Twitter account announced the film on 26 April 2017. Earlier, Shraddha Kapoor was signed to play Nehwal's role, and she even started filming in September 2018 after training, but later she opted out of the film due to health issues.[8] On 15 March 2019, it was confirmed by T-Series head honcho Bhushan Kumar that Shraddha Kapoor will not be playing the role of Nehwal. In a statement they said, "Due to circumstances beyond her control, the actress kept giving other films priority over the national badminton champion’s biopic, so the makers have decided to go ahead with Chopra."[9]

In June, Manav Kaul was finalized to play the role of Pullela Gopichand who is Nehwal's coach.[10]

Training

edit

From mid June, Chopra was training herself in playing badminton and practicing the stances of Nehwal.[11] As many as 12 courts were recreated to represent international venues where Saina Nehwal has played.[12]

Reception

edit

Box office

edit

The film collected total 1.2 crore in its theatrical run, it was declared flop and disastrous.[13]

It was impacted due to Covid-19.

Critical reception

edit

Saina received mixed to positive reviews from critics with praises towards Chopra's performance. Yogesh Mishra of 'Bollywood Town' says "Movie beautifully talks about the success saga of a middle-class girl from Haryana". Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express gave 3 out of 5 stars and noted that Parineeti "serves, drops and smashes as [the] badminton champ", writing "[Chopra] gives us a good, solid Saina Nehwal. When she raises her racket after a hard-fought win, you cheer."[14]

Film critic Anna M. M. Vetticad applauded Chopra for rising to the challenge of playing the sports icon, writing "The actor plays down her naturally vivacious personality and sparkling eyes for the not-so-showy character she plays here. Most impressively, she gets the body language of a sportsperson right and actually looks the part on court."[15] She gave the film 2.75 star out of 5 and pointed out that the film erases Gopichand and skirts inconvenient truths.

Renuka Vyavahare of Times Of India gave the film 3.5 stars out of 5 and wrote, "Saina is a simple ode to eternal optimism". For Chopra's performance she said, "Parineeti push herself in this physically demanding role".[16]

Accolades

edit
Award Date of the ceremony Category Recipients Result Ref.
67th Filmfare Awards 30 August 2022 Best Supporting Actress Meghna Malik Nominated [17]
Best Supporting Actor Manav Kaul Nominated
Best Music Album Amaal Malik Nominated
Best Lyrics Manoj Muntashir Nominated
68th National Film Awards 30 September 2022 Best Lyrics Manoj Muntashir Won

Soundtrack

edit
Saina
Soundtrack album by
Released26 March 2021[18]
Recorded2020
GenreFeature film soundtrack
Length37:18
LanguageHindi
LabelT-Series
ProducerMeghdeep Bose
Amaal Mallik chronology
Kabir Singh
(2019)
Saina
(2021)
Koi Jaane Na
(2021)
Official audio
Saina - Full Album on YouTube

The soundtrack is composed by Amaal Mallik, produced, arranged & co-written by Meghdeep Bose with lyrics by Manoj Muntashir and Kunaal Vermaa.[19]

Track listing
No.TitleLyricsSinger(s)Length
1."Exordium"1:20
2."Chal Wahin Chalein"Manoj MuntashirShreya Ghoshal5:10
3."The Staircase Of Life"Shreya Ghoshal2:31
4."Embrace Yourself"Shreya Ghoshal1:38
5."Parinda"Manoj MuntashirAmaal Mallik5:14
6."One Point For The Sky"1:52
7."A Mother's Love"Manoj MuntashirSuvarna Tiwari1:14
8."Confluence Of Dreams"1:22
9."Main Hoon Na Tere Saath"Kunaal VermaaArmaan Malik5:27
10."A Rally Of Love & Success"1:46
11."The Curse Of A Champion"Snigdha Pious3:06
12."Hall Of Mirrors"Shreya Ghoshal3:38
13."The Sword Of Saina"Suzanne D'Mello3:00
Total length:37:18

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Parineeti Chopra-starrer Saina Nehwal biopic to release in March". Outlook India. 2 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2021. Retrieved 2 March 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Saina - Movie - Box Office India". Box. Office India. 26 March 2021. Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  3. ^ "Parineeti Chopra starts her day at 5 am to prep for her role as Saina Nehwal!". Bollywood Hungama. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  4. ^ "Parineeti Chopra: I want to do justice to the film and to Saina Nehwal". The Times of India. 3 April 2019. Archived from the original on 3 April 2019. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  5. ^ "Saina Nehwal Biopic: Badminton Star REACTS To Parineeti Chopra's UNSEEN Look From Film, Calls Pari Her 'Lookalike'". ABPLive. 5 November 2020. Archived from the original on 5 November 2020. Retrieved 16 November 2020.
  6. ^ "Manav Kaul: When I met Eshan Naqvi, I realised I knew nothing about badminton". Mumbai Mirror. Archived from the original on 26 April 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2021.
  7. ^ a b c "Saina trailer out. Parineeti Chopra-starrer promises to be an inspiring ride". India Today. 8 March 2021. Archived from the original on 10 March 2021. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  8. ^ "Is Saina Nehwal biopic delayed due to Shraddha Kapoor's struggles with learning badminton?". The Times of India. 24 October 2017. Archived from the original on 17 September 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2019.
  9. ^ "Here's Why Shraddha Kapoor Was Replaced by Parineeti Chopra in Saina Nehwal Biopic". News 18. 19 March 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  10. ^ "Manav Kaul to play Parineeti Chopra's coach in Saina Nehwal biopic". India Today. 22 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Parineeti Chopra gets trolled by her team as she trains in badminton. Saina Nehwal has epic response". India Today. 26 June 2019. Archived from the original on 26 June 2019. Retrieved 26 June 2019.
  12. ^ "Saina Nehwal biopic set to chronicle Indian star's incredible career". Olympic Channel. 29 June 2020. Archived from the original on 16 November 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (26 March 2021). "Saina Box Office Collection | India | Day Wise | Box Office - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 24 August 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  14. ^ Gupta, Shubhra (26 March 2021). "Saina movie review: Parineeti Chopra serves, drops and smashes as badminton champ". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  15. ^ Vetticad, Anna M. M. (26 March 2021). "Saina movie review: Saina Nehwal's biopic is inspiring but erases Gopichand and skirts inconvenient truths". Archived from the original on 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  16. ^ "Saina Movie Review: A simple ode to eternal optimism". Times Of India. 25 March 2021. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  17. ^ "Sidharth, Vicky in race for Best Actor trophy at 67th Wolf777news Filmfare Awards 2022; see full list of nominations". Times Now. 18 August 2022. Archived from the original on 19 August 2022. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
  18. ^ "Saina – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack". Jio Saavn. 26 March 2021. Archived from the original on 18 April 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  19. ^ "Amaal Mallik on recording 'Parinda' for 'Saina' with live orchestra". Telangana Today. 14 March 2021. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
edit