Shahid Kapoor is all set to portray the role of former boxing champion and Asian Games gold medallist Dingko Singh, a Bombay Times report stated. The untitled project will be directed by Raja Krishna Menon, who had earlier made films like Airlift and Chef. In an interview to Bombay Times , Shahid Kapoor confirmed the news and said that the driving factor for doing the film was the fact that despite being a gold medallist, nothing much is known about the sporting legend. "The thing that I loved about this story is that he is one of those 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," Bombay Times quoted the actor as saying.
Ngangom Dingko Singh from Manipur was the first and only Asian gold medallist boxer from India in the Bantamweight category. He also received the Padma Shri in 2013. Dingko Singh is an "extremely inspiring" personality whose story needs to be told, said Shahid Kapoor. "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 told Bombay Times .
In his interview, Shahid Kapoor spoke about Dingko Singh's inspiring journey of battling cancer and defeating it just like a true winner. "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," Shahid Kapoor added.
Meanwhile, Shahid Kapoor is currently gearing for the release of Batti Gul Meter Chalu, which also features Shraddha Kapoor. In the film, Shahid fights against the issue of power thefts, after his friend commits suicide unable to pay the huge electricity bill levied on him. Directed by Shree Narayan Singh, the film hits the screen on September 21.
