Onir`s next film `Coach Kameena` on sports

Mumbai: Filmmaker Onir, who is basking in the glory of national-award winner `I Am`, will now be producing a film revolving around a 17-year-old athlete and his sports coach who helps the boy realise his potential.

Directed by Ashwini Malik, `Coach Kameena` follows the journey of a youngster, who has a natural talent for running. "`Coach Kameena` is about a sports coach in Punjab and his struggle to help a 17-year-old boy, who has a natural talent for running, pursue his career in athletics. The boy`s mother wants her son to become an engineer and take up a regular job," Onir told reporters. "It is all about letting people realise their dreams. It is an inspirational sports film," he said. Earlier, Nagesh Kukunoor`s `Iqbal` focused on a cricket loving boy (essayed by Shreyas Talpade) from a remote Indian village, who also faces obstruction from his family and aims to overcome his difficulties and become a cricketer to fulfill his dream of playing for the Indian team. On comparisons, Onir said, "It is not on the lines of `Iqbal` at all. It is not about cricket. It is about running. Also, it is not a biopic or based on any real life person." The director-producer had raised funds for his film `I Am` through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. After bagging two national awards including Best Hindi Film for `I Am`, producers Onir and Sanjay Suri have again decided to go for crowd sourcing. "We have decided that we will continue partly with crowd-funding for our upcoming projects -- `Chauranga`, `Shab` and `Coach Kameena`," Onir said. The cast for `Coach Kameena` will be announced next month and the shooting would begin from September. The film would release next year. `Chauranga` would be produced by Onir and Sanjay. It would be directed by first timer Bikas Ranjan Mishra while for `Shab`, Onir will don the hat of a director. `Chauranga` tells the story of an uneducated young Dalit boy wanting to express his feelings to an educated girl. He seeks help from his brother to write a love letter. The film explores the consequences thereafter. "There was an incident that took place in 2008 in North. It is about a Dalit boy who was thrown under a running train because he wrote a love letter to an upper caste girl. This incident created quite a stir internationally but the Indian media never gave much of importance to the incident. Both Sanjay and me were impressed when we read the script and hence decided to produce the movie," Onir said. `Shab` tells the love story of a gigolo and a prostitute. It is an Indo-French venture, so Onir is on the look out for French actors. "The story revolves around a gigolo and a call girl. The film will have mix of French and Indian actors," Onir said. PTI