Bollywood has turned its attention towards sportsmen and have made many biographies to glorify the sportsmen. The ‘Bhaag Milkha Bhaag’ movie made on the ‘Flying Sikh’ Milkha Singh and the recently released movie ‘Gold’, which is based on India’s first Olympic gold medal win in Hockey post Independence, have not only been successful commercially but have also been critically acclaimed. The latest announcement in this list would be the announcement of a movie based on the life story of Indian boxing champion and Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh. Dingko Singh also won the King’s Cup in his career while winning many medals while playing in India. Shahid Kapoor is all set to play the part of Dingko Singh in the movie which will be directed by Raja Krishna Menon. Dingko’s story is a story of ups and downs and his experiences which make for an excellent storyline which will keep the audience enthralled throughout the length of the movie.
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Born in a very poor family, he was brought up in an orphanage in Imphal, capital of Manipur. Dingko fought against all odds to persevere and succeed in life. He had surprised the Indian boxing authorities when he was very young and this led to him getting trained at a very young age in a Sports Authority of India facility. After winning the sub-junior National Boxing Championship in 1989 at the tender age of just 10 years Dingko was hailed as an upcoming star by the authorities. His debut in the International Boxing ring happened in 1997 when he won the King’s Cup 1997 in Bangkok where he was also declared as the best boxer of the meet at just 18 years of age. At 19 years of age Dingko won the Bangkok Asian Games which was held in Bangkok. To win the gold medal at the Asian Games Dingko defeated the then world number three and number five boxers. He continued representing India at various events throughout the world and decided not to go professional as he was working with the Indian Navy at the same time. He also decided to change into the role of a coach for the young and upcoming boxers in India after retiring from active sports. Dingko has remained an inspiration for the young boxers and his contribution to the medals which came to India from boxing cannot be brushed off.
Dingko Singh was awarded the prestigious Arjuna Award in 1998 and Padma Shri in 2013 for his efforts made as an boxer. He is well respected in both his roles of a boxing coach and of a personnel of the Indian Navy. The portrayal of his role by Shahid Kapoor will make people understand the sacrifices he had to make in order to become an international boxer. Shahid Kapoor might also be able to pull off the role of the famed boxer from India who was once considered the most ferocious boxer from India and a force to reckon with. While talking about this project Shahid Kapoor said, “the thing that I loved about this story is that he is one of those superstars who we don’t know much about. If a film like Dangal (2016) wasn’t made, we wouldn’t know as much about the Phogat sisters. Dingko is a cancer survivor, and he went through 13 rounds of chemotherapy. He has even gone on to say that his biggest win was surviving cancer and not the gold medal he won at the age of 19 at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok”.
“In 2017, Gautam Gambhir became aware of his situation and sent money for his treatment. Soon, people found out who he was, and 13 doctors came forward to help him. He is a sports star who survived cancer. At some point in his past, he had almost become a Naxalite. His life story is unbelievably crazy; it is very human and extremely inspiring. Such amazing stories of heroes need to be told”, Shahid Kapoor further said.
All the best to Shahid Kapoor and the rest of the cast of the movie for portraying the life of a giant in his own walk on the silver screen.