Kumble, Tendulkar, Dravid endorse serial on Chandrasekhar

Chennai:

Test captain Anil Kumble and his cricket team colleagues Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and Harbhajan Singh have endorsed a television serial on V.S. Chandrasekhar, a former national table tennis champion.

Kumble and Dravid have also contributed their part in the serial titled 'Chandra', by lending bytes.

Speaking at a function on the occasion on Sunday, Kumble said he used to follow the game as his brother played table tennis. He mentioned the names of some well-known TT players of that era, including Chandrasekhar and G.K. Vishwanath.

The 26-week episode on Jaya TV will trace the four stages in the life of Chandrasekar, right from his childhood to the present day, including a botched knee surgery that nearly made him blind.

The serial will see Chandrasekhar playing himself.

"I have shot the serial in cinemascope to give it a biopic feel and it also carries experience of individuals associated with him," S Haricharan, director of the biopic, said, while expressing hope that his televised account of the life of the three time national champion would help revive table tennis, "which is a lost game facing extinction."

A visibly moved Chandra said he was facing a funds crunch to construct a table tennis academy.

"The academy, whose plan has been approved by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority at Mogappair, is facing funds crunch due to lack of sponsors," he said adding it was his dream project.

However the TT champ has reasons enough to rejoice as Jaya TV has promised to share 50 per cent of the revenue from the serial towards Chandrasekar's project, Haricharan said.

The evening saw past TT champs, also Arjuna Awardees, like G Jagannath, Niyati Shah and S Raman being honoured for their contribution to the game.