Abhishek Banerjee: Struggles Of Athletes Are Not Discussed Enough

Actor Abhishek Banerjee will soon be seen playing the role of a lawyer in Taapsee Pannu starrer 'Rashmi Rocket'. The movie explores the subject of gender testing in sports. The actor reveals that when he heard about the issue, he realised how many people only talk about the victory of athletes and not the struggles that go behind it.

 "It's time for the people to see what goes behind the scenes of a success story which is usually celebrated after a win but before the win, there are many struggles that an athlete has to endure and very few people know about it. I think very few people want to talk about the struggles as everybody only wants to talk about the glory and Rashmi Rocket is a great film as it talks about all these things," says Banerjee.

The actor accepts that he didn't know much about gender testing in sports. When he read the script, his first reaction was to discuss this with his father who is a Paramilitary Officer and served in CISF and NSG.

Recalling the conversation he had with his father, Banerjee says, "My father is a Paramilitary officer and has served in the CISF and NSG and has played a lot of sports in his professional career. He was the first one I called to ask if he knows anything about gender testing in sports and he told me that this has been going on since a long time and threw some insight on it. He told me that he has read about many athletes going through suffering and pain because of this and he also gave me some names who fought their case in court and won against the association."

The actor adds, "So, that really gave me courage because I realised that this is a story which has been played in real life many many times and now it's time for the world to see and hear these stories."

Directed by Akarsh Khurana, 'Rashmi Rocket' also stars actors Supriya Pathak, Priyanshu Painyuli and Supriya Pilgaonkar. The movie will stream on Zee 5 from October 15.