I will decide who writes my life story: Indian sprinter Dutee Chand on reports of a book coming out
Asian Games 2018 silver medallist Dutee Chand refutes giving permission to author-filmmaker Sundeep Misra for a book. She also talks about receiving offers from Bollywood filmmakers.
Once she was famous as the athlete who had to overcome tremendous hurdles — poverty, questions raised about her gender — and now she is even more famous as a double silver medallist at the Jakarta Asian Games 2018. That’s the kind of story that makes for bestselling books and hit films, and sprinter Dutee Chand is getting offers for both.
“Mere upar bahut saara book likhne ke liye aa rahe hain, lekin bina permission, koi book nahin likh payega, nah (I’ve been getting a lot of book requests from people. But they can’t write a book without my permission, right?),” says the 22-year-old athlete from Odisha, who won silver in the 100m and 200m events.
She tells us this in the context of reports that her life’s journey will be penned in a book by journalist-author-filmmaker Sundeep Misra, who has previously authored the biography of hockey legend Dhanraj Pillay. The book is slated for release in 2019. But Dutee says that she hasn’t given any permission for this book.
“My story is in my hand, and I’ll decide on the person who writes it,” she says. “They can write a news article, but not a book without my permission. I haven’t told anybody to write a book on me. He gave the news to the media that he’s writing it. Maine bhi mail daal diya ki main toh aapko permission nahin diya,aap kaise book likh rahe ho. Kya pata hain aapko mere baare mein (I’ve written a mail asking him how he’s writing a book, when I haven’t given permission for it. I’ve asked him what does he know about me)?” says Dutee.
The sprinter says that her life has been a “struggle since childhood till now”. She says, “My story is very long. And for somebody to write a good story, one needs a good writer, too. My focus is on the Olympics, and not on a book or a biopic on me. Mere upar movie banane ke liye bahut directors phone kar rahe hain (I’ve been getting a lot of calls from filmmakers for a biopic),” she says.
Her recent Asiad achievement is a remarkable comeback for Dutee, who was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations in 2014, under its hyperandrogenism (a medical condition that puts excessive male hormones in a female body) policy. But she fought the decision and appealed before the Court of Arbitration for Sport and won.
Citing a few Bollywood names who’ve approached her, Dutee says, “[Rakeysh] Om Prakash [Mehra], Anil Kapoor’s production house. I’ve also got a mail from Hollywood. But I’ve told everyone that I won’t be making a film at the moment. I want to focus on the Olympics. After the Olympics are over, I can focus on making a film.” However, she adds that biopics on sportspersons do give “motivation to children”.
Interact with the author on Twitter/@Nainaarora8
