After Shraddha Kapoor, it’s Jacqueline Fernandez’s turn to say yes to a biopic of a sports star. Kapoor is starring as badminton player Saina Nehwal in the Amole Gupta-directed biopic and it looks like Fernandez will be playing Indian cyclist Deborah Herold in the story of her life.
According to a report in the daily tabloid Mumbai Mirror, the actress has agreed to be a part of the biopic which is due to begin filming next year. “It’s an inspiring story and she is looking forward to prep which will include some arduous training,” a source told the tabloid.
Herold, who hails from the Nicobar Islands, is training for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The cyclist is ranked fourth in the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) rankings for the 500-meter time trial, the first Indian to do so.
The young sportsperson survived the 2004 tsunami in Port Blair by taking shelter in a tree for a week. She now trains in New Delhi at the Velodrome in the Indira Gandhi Sports Complex.
At 23, Herold has already won two gold medals at the Herald Track Asia Cup held in 2014 for the 500-meter time trial and the team sprint. A year later in 2015, she picked five medals at the Taiwan Cup Track International Classic, and three more medals at the Track India Cup.
Fernandez also has Tarun Mansukhani’s Drive with Sushant Singh Rajput and the Hindi remake of the Kannada blockbuster film Kirik Party with Kartik Aaryan lined up for 2019. She is also due to star in Ribhu Dasgupta’s official adaptation of Paula Hawkins’s 2015 novel, The Girl on the Train, which was made into a Hollywood film starring Emily Blunt in 2016.