It's Bollywood calling for Rajasthan Royals

MUMBAI: Rajasthan Royals is extending its Bollywood connection beyond brand ambassador and investor Shilpa Shetty. The story of the reigning
champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) will soon provide the background for a Bollywood film to be produced by Kaleidoscope Entertainment
. The company, founded by Bobby Bedi, made films such as Mangal Pandey, Saathiya and Maqbool in the past. The yet-untitled film will be funded by Kaleidoscope and feature players from the Royals team. “We will not invest in the film, but have given it the go-ahead. We are supporting the film in other ways and some of our players will be part of the film. The Royals team is the background for the main story of the film,” Manoj Badale, chairman and joint owner of Rajasthan Royals told ET. The script has been finalised. The film is in the pre-production stage and should go on floors during the second IPL season in April. It was scheduled to go on floors in December, in which case the shooting would have been completed by now. But the Mumbai terror attacks led to the delay. Rajasthan Royals’ journey from being underdogs to IPL champions presented Bedi a perfect script for his film. “The underdog-to-champs story of Rajasthan Royals makes a great tale. The film is medium-budget, with youngsters playing the main roles. Gautam Talwar will direct the film and we’re hoping to release it this year itself,” says Mr Bedi. He is looking to rope in the Royals players, especially Shane Watson and Shane Warne, to act in the film. The Jaipur franchise also plans to release a DVD on its victorious sojourn in the first IPL season, in two weeks. The DVD will feature live match moments and exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the team.