August 12, 2010 (Sampurn Wire): Leander Paes has been the flag-bearer and the sports magnet for the game of tennis in India. His passionate and lionhearted performances whenever he played for India, has established him as the action man of Indian tennis. But Leander will soon be seen in a new avatar in the action-cut-glamour world of Bollywood, pursuing his newest passion.
Leander will be making his debut in Rajdhani Express, directed by Ashok Kohli, where he plays the role of a common man.
Leander has always been an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi, and when he read the script, it struck a chord in him, as it reflected Gandhiji’s immortal words, “Be the change that you would like to see in the world’ in an entertaining and engaging way.
Leander had been offered his first film since 1996, but he was too engrossed in tennis and self admittedly, not ‘ready’ to take the plunge. Leander believes that one of his strength is to connect with people and he looked at different medium to do that. Tennis was one such medium and now its films, starting off as a common man in Rajdhani Express.
Leander always loved watching films and found the power to transport to another world exhilarating. Besides the noted Bengali poet and dramatist Michael Madhusudan Dutt is his ancestor, so that took care of his pedigree in acting, he jokes.
Leander always believed in being fearless, that reflected in his performances on the field. He contends that starting from the scratch, he intends to take the same fearlessness, passion, dedication, and hard work whilst putting on the grease paint for the audience. And he feels having a good water tight script is half the battle already won.
With an achiever’s mindset, India’s most celebrated Grand Slam champ has got another ‘ace’ up his sleeve with Rajdhani Express.
–Sampurn Wire
