Mumbai, Apr 13: Long before the Master Blaster arrived at the auditorium of the suburban multiplex where the trailer of his biopic ‘Sachin: A Billion Dreams’ was to be released, shouts of ‘Sachin Sachin’ had already been reverberating inside the hall. To add on to the noise quotient, whistles had been handed out to complement those cheers in the packed auditorium.
The excitement finally reached its peak when the legend himself entered the auditorium. Dressed in semi-formal attire, Tendulkar walked in to a rapturous welcome; just like those days when the Indian crowd stood up and waited anxiously at the fall of the second wicket.
“I feel as nervous as during my first press conference in 1992,” Tendulkar said. “Till then, I had no idea of how press conferences were conducted, what happened in there and I kept asking a lot of guys in the dressing room on what was it all about.
“They scared even more, stating that there would be a number of questions asked and that’s what I’m feeling at the moment. But this is special.”
However, he didn’t have to face a single question from the scribes. Instead, he interacted with Vikram Sathaye, the host and author of ‘How Sachin Destroyed My Life’ and left after spending around 15 minutes. Along with him on the stage were director James Erskine, producer Ravi Bhagchandka, the chairman and founder of Carnival Group Shrikant Bhasi, and Anil Thadani.
While they opened up on their experiences, Sachin spoke regarding the movie, due to be released on May 26, 2017. “This movie is not just about my cricket. There are other chapters of my life as well. I never thought something like this is going to happen in my life. All I wanted to do was to pick up a bat and play cricket for India. That was my dream,” he said.
He also took a walk down memory lane and shared a few memories of his childhood. “I was around 3-4 when at home, my family were constantly talking about a movie called Maa and then finally a day arrived when our entire family decided to go watch it in a theatre. We were travelling in a bus and the conductor naturally approached us and asked me ‘Which ticket do you want?’ Instead of telling him Bandra or Santacruz, I blurted out ‘Maa movie ki ticket chahiye (Give me a ticket for the movie Maa)’.”
While the audience burst into laughter, Tendulkar switched to Marathi when asked to name a few of his personal favourites from the Marathi film industry. He spoke of the 90s blockbusters Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi and Thartharat, terming them as timeless and as ones that manages to bring up a smile even today.
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