Would like to make biopic on Hima Das: Akshay Kumar
Mumbai, July 28 : Actor-producer Akshay Kumar, who is busy promoting his forthcoming sports-drama film "Gold", says he would like to make biopic on life of Indian sprinter Hima Das who became the first Indian athlete to win a gold in a track event at just 18 year of age.
Interacting with media at an event organized by Edelweiss group here on Saturday to support & wish India contingent for Asian Games 2018, Akshay, asked on which Indian sports personality he would like to make a biopic as a producer, said: "I would like to make biopic on Hima Das because she is a track runner..
"...I think it was very rare feat to achieve because somebody who comes from interiors of India and wins gold medal in track (running) event was really incredible."
"India has been little bit weak when it comes to perform in track events and I feel we should encourage and support that form of sports to show the world that we have great talent when it comes to running as we daily run so fast to catch a bus or atrain... so, I would love to make biopic on her life," he added.
Akshay, to a query whether he feels that films can generate importance of sports in the minds of the audience and help India to become a better sports nation, said: "I really liked story of 'Gold' which is due for its release. I thought that this story needs to be told.
"It is very interesting and real story. There are some glorious achievement achieved by our people, by our country but it's not in public domain.
"Before doing this film, I didn't knew that we won our first Olympic gold medal in 1948. Most of us don't know when, how, where and in which circumstances we were able to win that gold medal by defeating, on their own turf, England who ruled us for 200 years... so, this kind of things cinema can represent all this in very nice way.
"If we make a documentary on this incident then one might watch it instead of that if we incorporate 4-5 songs, 1-2 fight sequence, hero and heroine in it then, it looks entertaining."
A historical sports drama inspired by India's first Olympic gold medal, "Gold" traces the "golden era" of Indian hockey through the journey of Tapan Das, a young assistant manager in 1936, who dreams of playing for an independent nation.
The film features Akshay Kumar, Amit Sadh, Kunal Kapoor, Sunny Kaushal, Vineet Kumar Singh and Mouni Roy in lead roles.
Directed by Reema Kagti and produced by Excel Entertainment, it releases on August 15.
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Rupee hits all-time low for second time in a week
Mumbai (PTI): The rupee depreciated 31 paise to settle at 91.99 against the US dollar on Wednesday, touching the lowest closing level for the second time in less than a week, amid increased month-end demand for the greenback.
Forex traders said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe offered quiet reassurance. However, increased month-end demand for the American currency as well as the ongoing geopolitical tensions dented investors' sentiments.
At the interbank foreign exchange, the rupee opened at 91.60 and touched an early high of 91.50, but pared all the gains to touch an intra-day low of 91.99 against the greenback.
The domestic unit settled 31 paise down, revisiting its lowest-ever closing level of 91.99 against the greenback. The Indian currency previously ended at this level on January 23 when it also hit its all-time intraday low of 92 against the US dollar.
On Tuesday, the rupee rebounded from its all-time low levels and gained 22 paise to close at 91.68 against the US dollar.
Analysts said the rupee opened higher as the US dollar index softened and a long-awaited trade breakthrough with Europe bolstered investor sentiment.
India and the European Union on Tuesday announced the conclusion of negotiations for the free trade agreement (FTA), under which a number of domestic sectors such as apparel, chemicals and footwear will get duty-free entry into the 27-nation bloc, while the EU will get access to the Indian market at concessional duty for cars and wines, an official said.
The deal has been dubbed the "mother of all deals" as it will create a market of about 2 billion people.
Meanwhile, the dollar index, which gauges the greenback's strength against a basket of six currencies, was trading 0.07 per cent lower at 96.14.
Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, was trading 0.43 per cent lower at USD 67.28 per barrel in futures trade.
On the domestic equity market front, Sensex jumped 487.20 points to settle at 82,344.68, while Nifty surged 167.35 points to 25,342.75.
Foreign Institutional Investors turned net buyers and purchased equities worth Rs 480.26 crore on Wednesday, according to exchange data.
