Saiyami Kher essays a para-athlete in R Balki’s Ghoomer

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Saiyami Kher will soon be seen in R. Balki’s Ghoomer, an emotional and inspiring sports drama in the role of a para-athlete and cricket prodigy. Although she grew up playing cricket in real life, this role was especially challenging as she had to work hard to get into the character.

Saiyami says, “I play the role of a left-handed bowler in Ghoomer and, for me in real life, I am a right-handed player. I could never actually step into the shoes of a real life para-athlete, but, being an athlete myself, even the small hurdles I had to overcome reminded me of the things we take for granted. Preparing and filming for Ghoomer opened my eyes in a way that I never thought would happen. It was a physically- and emotionally-challenging time, but my struggles were minuscule when compared to those heroes who make our country proud by participating in so many sports as para-athletes.”

Ghoomer, which will release in 2023, is a movie about her character and also stars Abhishek Bachchan, Angad Bedi and Shabana Azmi in pivotal roles. Abhishek plays Saiyami’s coach and Angad Bedi plays her love interest. The film, which is currently in the post-production stage, is co-written by Balki along with Rahul Sengupta and Rishi Virmani, and is inspired by the story of Karoly Takacs, the late Hungarian right-hand shooter who won two Olympic gold medals with his left hand after his other was seriously injured.

Saiyami, after a false start with Mirziya in 2016, seems to be going places. The granddaughter of 1950s top star Usha Kiron, she made her debut in 2015 with the Telugu film, Rey. Her tenure there also continues with films like Wild Dog and Highway. She has also done the Marathi film, Mauli, but is best-known for her work in the web series Special Ops, Breathe: Into The Shadows and Faadu.