Now, IPL comes to the movies

As IPL turns 15, 83 producer announces screen adaptation of Boria Majumdar’s book Maverick Commissioner; film to focus on cricket league’s genesis and founder Lalit Modi

Inside Edge is set in the world of a fictional T20 cricket league, along the lines of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But truth is stranger than fiction. So, it was only a matter of time before the IPL — with its dizzying highs, plunging lows and controversies galore — became the subject of a movie. As the IPL, founded by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), enters its 15th year, Thalaivii (2021) and 83 (2021) producer Vishnu Vardhan Induri is set to announce a film on the franchise tourney. The movie will be based on sports journalist-academician Boria Majumdar’s upcoming book, Maverick Commissioner: The IPL-Lalit Modi Saga.

Producer Induri’s last release was 83

Like its source material, the film will focus as much on the league’s mastermind Lalit Modi as it will on the journey of the tournament. A source reveals, “It will begin right from 2007 when the IPL was announced, and the teams were subsequently formed. As the tournament rolled out, some cricketers became famous overnight.” The league was a marriage between cricket and Bollywood, as stars became owners of teams like Kolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings.

Vishnu Vardhan Induri, producer

Among its many controversies, the biggest was Modi’s suspension in 2010 over alleged financial irregularities, after which the BCCI in 2013 banned him for life for “indiscipline and misconduct”. The source adds, “The IPL became a mega event that saw a heady mix of sports stars, glamour, and business deals that ran into crores of rupees. At the centre of it all was its founder and commissioner. The makers are in talks with a top star to play the character of Lalit Modi, which will drive the narrative.”

Lalit Modi

For Induri, the book-to-screen adaptation marks his second cricket offering after 83. “We are adapting Maverick Commissioner into a feature film. The book will be out in the next three weeks. We are in the process of finalising the screenplay, director and cast,” he says.  Induri adds that the film will examine all the important events of the T20 league. “The book is a fascinating account of the creation of the world’s biggest cricketing mela, and insights about the man behind the show. The film’s soul will be the IPL formation, Lalit Modi’s journey in making it, and his exit.”

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