Racquet science

Sonam Kapoor plays tennis star Sania Mirza in the romantic comedy, Thank You

By Subhash K Jha
Posted On Wednesday, March 31, 2010 at 02:46:23 AM
Tennis champ Sania Mirza is not only in the news for her impending marriage but also for a film based on her life. Sonam Kapoor will play a character strikingly similar to Sania in Anees Bazmee’s rom-com Thank You. The film’s shooting starts mid-April in Canada.

Just like Sania, Sonam plays a young, attractive tennis champ and falls in love with a guy, who is completely wrong for her. She soon realises her mistake and turns back before it’s too late. Remember Sania calling off her engagement to Sohrab Mirza earlier this year before news of her impending marriage to Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik started doing the rounds?

Director Anees Bazmee confirms the news and says, “Sonam does pay a tennis champ, and Akshay Kumar plays a guy who’s seeing 30-35 girls at the same time, until he meets Sonam. Though he gives up flirting, he’s not particularly serious about Sonam too. It’s a funny take on courtship.”

Sonam will be trained by a tennis coach in Canada for her role. “Sonam plays a state-level tennis champ in Canada so she cannot afford to look amateurish while playing the game in my film. I don’t expect her to become a tennis champ in a week but she should look like a professional,” adds the director.

When asked about the similarities between Sania Mirza and Sonam’s role Anees Bazmee says, “I wouldn’t like to take any names but any girl playing a tennis player would have similarities to the name you mentioned.”

What he would rather not say is that all the departments of his film including the script, camera and makeup, would be working towards making Sonam look like Sania.