'Doosra' is fiction meets reality: Abhinay Deo

Mumbai: In “Doosra”, director Abhinay Deo has taken a crucial moment from India’s cricket history to weave a coming-of-age story about a young girl.

The docu-fiction is set against the backdrop of India’s win against England in 2002 Natwest series. The then euphoric Indian captain Sourav Ganguly took off his shirt and waved it in the air to celebrate the win.

“There is hardly anyone in our country who does not have a fascination for cricket be it filmmakers, creative people or common public. In our film, the footage of the 2002 match and the interviews of prominent personalities runs parallel to the fiction story. I was fascinated with what that period in cricket did for our country,” Deo told PTI in an interview here.

Plabita Borthakur of “Lipstick Under My Burkha” fame plays the role of Tara in the film. Her character comes from an orthodox household in Jodhpur and starts to rebel against patriarchal norms.

“We decided to merge fiction and documentary. It is a story of India, cricket and Sourav. Then there is this girl, who is growing up around the time when there was a lot of buzz in the world of economics, politics and cricket. She is seeking answers.

“The girl takes inspiration from that victory, which was history in the making. In the film, the girl is going through her own struggles and she takes inspiration from the cricket world, from Sourav Ganguly and changes her life,” Deo said.

According to Deo, the film touches upon courage, freedom of expression and fighting social prejudices among other things.

“It talks about freedom from many things, social prejudices, inferiority complex. Our country was richest and advanced at one point in the world but in the recent past, we are battling inferiority complex against that world.

“Doosra” is currently in the final stages of post-production and the makers are finalising how, when and where to release the film.