BackInside Sachin Tendulkar’s sphere
The director of 'Sachin: A Billion Dreams' on what it took to understand the cricketing legend
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One of the surprising discoveries that UK-based film-maker James Erskine made about Sachin Tendulkar was that every cliché he had heard about the man was true.
Not surprisingly, the 1-minute teaser of the docudrama Sachin: A Billion Dreams includes one such. “One man united his country," says the super on the screen.
“His legendary patience is true, his attention to detail…and he really understands technology and is fascinated by process," says Erskine, director of the docudrama, which is now being edited. A release date has not yet been announced.
Made over the course of almost a year and a half, the film captures the varied aspects of Tendulkar’s life, including his last Ranji Trophy match, against Haryana in October 2013, and his last Test series, against the West Indies, also in 2013, and traces his personal and professional life. It uses existing footage and clips where available and recreates moments when required.
A few years ago, when writer-producer-director Erskine was wondering what his next project should be, a journalist friend suggested a film on Tendulkar. That’s a great idea, Erskine thought, but how do I get him? He wanted to make a film about India’s 1983 team (which won the World Cup) and see it from the perspective of a boy who would go on to become a cricketer.
Erskine had put that thought aside for some time when he got a call, seemingly by coincidence, from Ravi Bhagchandka, founder of the production company 200 Not Out—a reference to the number of Test matches Tendulkar played. Bhagchandka proposed a documentary without disclosing the subject. But Erskine could guess, and in late 2014-early 2015, he started writing.
For Bhagchandka, Erskine was an obvious choice, with his varied repertoire of feature films and documentaries. Erskine’s already impressive resume includes Pantani: The Accidental Death Of A Cyclist, on Marco Pantani; The Battle Of The Sexes, on the 1973 tennis contest between Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King; and From The Ashes, on the 1981 cricket series famous for Ian Botham’s exploits.
The feature-length docudrama on Tendulkar blends real life visuals with dramatic recreations of incidents. Its film-makers realized that using an actor, as they would in a feature film, would look fake because everyone is so familiar with Tendulkar’s style, stance, swagger and speech.
“The key to a film that breaks new ground is to mix the real person with dramatized elements of the past," says Erskine in a Skype call. “It works like any feature film, as an emotional experience where you feel close to him. We have used every possible technique, but the hard part is blending all those scenes together."
Erskine says they had an initial 50-page treatment, in which some elements were scripted and others were not. Other elements came through research and discovery, through footage, or from people’s comments from around the world.
Supported by Tendulkar himself, the project gave Erskine access to him at home, his wife, Anjali, his mother, children, siblings and friends who have known him since childhood. Several cricketers contributed to the conversation, including V.V.S. Laxman, Harbhajan Singh, rivals such as Shane Warne and Ricky Ponting, and those who were inspired by Tendulkar, such as Virat Kohli. Experts and journalists such as Harsha Bhogle and Gideon Haigh contributed too.
When Bhagchandka, a small-time cricketer who was once coached by Tendulkar’s former teammate, Paras Mhambrey, first proposed the idea, Tendulkar didn’t agree immediately because he needed time to process the information. “He would have to speak about chapters of his life that he has not spoken about yet," says Bhagchandka.
The film gets behind the headlines to understand Tendulkar the hero, the family man, the father and the son. It also explores the lives of those close to him and how they have coped with the highs and lows and the incredible pressure of being with him.
“We obviously tap into the huge love and knowledge of Sachin that exists already and take that further," Erskine adds. “He is unique in the history of the world. He so closely mirrors the story of the country’s journey over a period. A national dialogue is built along this single figure, and he is the reservoir of the hopes and dreams of a nation, not just a billion dreams, but a sense of who a contemporary Indian is."
Shot in over five countries, but mostly in India, the post-production work is being done in both the UK and India. Erskine says that unlike a conventional film, which may be shot over three months, they have been filming this in pieces: Shoot, go back to the UK and edit, see how it works and then shoot more. “We built this complex portrait, almost like a mosaic. It’s a good way to work for a film like this," says Erskine.
He also preferred to work partly in the UK because he wanted the distance from Tendulkar, and India. “Perspective is a key element in making a truly meaningful film. If you are in India, in his presence, it’s harder (to get the perspective) because his presence is bigger than your eye can see."
Erskine has set himself the lofty goal of making a great sports movie, combining the cinematic appeal of a Rocky, the Sylvester Stallone franchise, with the gritty reality of Senna, the 2010 documentary on Formula One racer Ayrton Senna, directed by Asif Kapadia. “No one is going to be able to make this kind of a film," Erskine states. “This has to be definitive and, therefore, has to have all the care and curation required for making a masterpiece on the little master."
The producers are hoping for a wide theatrical release, satellite, digital, et al. They are also encouraged by the response to the teaser, which has gained close to 10 million views so far, according to Bhagchandka. “With someone like Sachin," he says, “he’s like Michael Jordan to basketball or Michael Jackson to music. It goes beyond the sport. Whether you follow the sport or the person or not, you still want to know about them."
Both Erskine and Bhagchandka were amazed by the response Tendulkar got wherever he went. “We felt sometimes that our life would be in danger because of the volume of crowds, his fans and their love for him," adds the producer.
During filming, a bonus for Erskine came from Tendulkar himself. “He is very photogenic, warm and accessible on camera. We wanted to capture that. He is not acting in our film, but starring in it."
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