Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai on Thursday (Emmanual Karbhari)
On the day the official teaser of 'Sachin, A Billion Dreams', a biopic on India's batting legend was released, Sachin Tendulkar, the actor, must had butterflies in his tummies.
On the day the official teaser of 'Sachin, A Billion Dreams', a biopic on India's batting legend was released, Sachin Tendulkar, the actor, must had butterflies in his tummies. But his confidence and the infectious smile hid it all.
By Thursday evening, the teaser had 3.30 lakh hits, and counting. As the fans shared the video on social websites, they admitted to have goose bumps while sharing the brief highlights of the inspirational story.
For Tendulkar, it was work as usual. At the launch of IDBI Federal Life Insurance Mumbai Half Marathon, Tendulkar, who gave a motivational talk to runners present, revealed acting in the movie as more challenging.
ALSO READ Sachin biopic: Why this is completely different from Azhar or MS Dhoni: The Untold Story!
"For so many years, I did whatever I wanted to do and the camera captured that. But then suddenly I was asked to do particular things and then the camera captured them. So it was a bit different for me, a big change. And believe me, the first option was a better option," he told the audience that included athletes, hosts and the media.
"Acting is not something that I dreamt of. Without any doubt, acting was more challenging than playing cricket, which I enjoyed more," he added.
ALSO READ Sachin biopic: These two posters will make every fan jump from their seats!
Talking about fitness, Tendulkar said the Indian cricket team is quite fit. "Fitness is from within, it is not about how you look, but what the body is actually able to do. With more awareness and more knowledge, I think the current Indian team is really fit," he said.
Tendulkar credited his coach Ramakant Achrekar for his fitness. "All I want to tell you is that my coach was instrumental in making me realise that fitness is going to be a key factor but he made things enjoyable for me. I never once felt as to why I am doing this," he said.
ALSO READ Sachin Tendulkar biopic: All you need to know about the film!
Elaborating on fitness, he said: "I was only 12-13 years old and I had started playing cricket. My coach would start my practice session in the morning at around 7am, I would practice till 9.30 in the nets and then have a break of 30 minutes, then start a match at 10 am and play till 4.30, have a break of half-an-hour and then from 5pm I would play till continue 7 pm till it would get dark.
"That's where those Re 1 coins would come up, the coach would place the coin on the stumps, and I had to save my wicket. If I was able to do that, I was asked to take a couple of laps around the group with my cricketing gear on. There were occasions when I asked sir if I could remove my pads and could keep the bat aside so it would be easier. But sir told me that if you feel that you can go out and score runs without your pads or bat, then run but if you don't think so, then run with your cricketing gear.
"Without realising, I felt that the foundation was becoming more and stronger for me and after that, there were a number of marathon innings that I played at school level," he added.
Tendulkar credited his coach Ramakant Achrekar for his fitness. "All I want to tell you is that my coach was instrumental in making me realise that fitness is going to be a key factor but he made things enjoyable for me. I never once felt as to why I am doing this."