Bollywood actor Anushka Sharma will be seen playing the role of India cricketer Jhulan Goswami in her biopic ‘Chakda Xpress’. The movie chronicles the journey of one of the world’s fastest bowlers in the history of women’s sport. It will also shed light on the struggles of Indian women’s cricket during the 90s and early 2000s when they did not get centralized contracts and were not respected by their peers and competitors.
The movie is directed by Prosit Roy and will stream on Netflix. The teaser is already out and Anushka looks the part. The actor shared the first look on her official Instagram account on January 6. She has also done well on the dialogue delivery and speaks in a Bengali accent just like Goswami. The one-minute teaser is inspiring for many aspiring young female cricketers who want to play the sport. Anushka is returning to films after a gap of three years. She took a sabbatical from the same for personal reasons.
However, now she is back and is gearing up for ‘Chakda Xpress’. The teaser shows the women cricketers affixing tapes on the back of the jerseys to cover the names of their counterparts. It shows the Indian women players back then did not even have jerseys of their own. Even the spectators were not seen on the ground to cheer for the ladies.
“If the jersey doesn’t carry your name…how will you have a fan following? But don’t worry, today we have put our name on the jersey, tomorrow you will know who we are,” she says in character.
Now, the women cricketers have jerseys of their own and even fan following. At the forefront of this tremendous revival are a few yesteryear players and some current players like Goswami, Mithali Raj, and Harmanpreet Kaur.