Sachin Tendulkar reveals how he ignited A Billion Dreams

With three days to go for the release of his move, Sachin: A Billion Dreams, the Indian batting legend is keeping his fingers crossed. He likens it to preparation for a cricket match. In this chat with Mumbai’s sports journalists after the special screening of his movie at the western suburb of Santa Cruz on Tuesday, Sachin Tendulkar, sitting next to the movie director James Erskine from England, goes nostalgic about his childhood days, the message his father gave that he still follows and also about his movie.
Excerpts:

How do you feel three days before the release of your movie?

ST: You have jumped in the pool, now you have to swim. We have tried our best. We have done everything possible. It is exactly like preparing for the match, tick all the boxes as far as preparation is concerned. And then go out and give your best. Exactly, that’s what we have done. We felt that we should do it from our heart and try and be as genuine and real as possible. The film is about my real journey. There are no fictional bits and pieces added. The whole life has been in front of the world. We have included a few things that are really really private and personal, family moments. People will get to see them. To be able to relive this journey has been special for me. Normally, the tendency is to look at the next game, and that is how I have always looked at. I was brought up thinking about the next game and let the world talk about the previous game. Here, I was talking about everything that was in the past. It is a new thing for me, a new experience.

Being a music fan, were you involved with the music part of the movie?

ST: What does one tell AR Rahman? It is like AR Rahman telling me how to bat. I don’t want to interfere in his profession. He is the best. Every time we heard the music, he kept telling ‘we’ll do better, we’ll do better’ and I said ‘where are you going to end?’ Every time you heard, it kept getting better and better, and the final version, I went to his house and studio in Powai, and I heard on his system. He explained the meaning of the song, which was fabulous. The title track, you hear it first two-three times, it is not so easy to understand. It is a typical Rahman song that is really, really catchy. The more you listen to the song, it continues to grow on you and stays with you. It stayed with me more so because of the lyrics. They are really nice. They connect directly to what I tried to do for so many years. We’ve also used Dire Straits a bit.

Who from the Tendulkar family was keen to see the full film?

ST: Possibly me, I can say. I wanted to know what’s happening. All of us have seen.

How much do you miss Mark Mascarenhas (his first manager) during the making of this movie?

ST: Hundred per cent. Mark was more like a family. Not just today, but I have missed him on a number of occasions. We always talk, ‘if Mark was here, he’d have done this’. He was a larger than life personality. If I am not mistaken, I was the first cricketer to be signed on by a company like this, and today it is a normal thing. But way back in 1995, people did not know what was in store for me at that stage. People said ‘why does he want to do all these things, just stay focussed on cricket’ failing to realise that I did this so I could be focussed on cricket. I did not want to waste my time negotiating contracts and making sure that ‘this clause should be there and this clause shouldn’t be there’. I did not want to waste my energy there. I wanted all my energy to be channelised on only cricket and nothing else. My family took all the load of going through the papers and I used to just sign it. I did not have to do anything else. Mark was an ardent fan of Indian cricket, a well-wisher of Indian cricket. He never ever forced me to skip my practice session for a shoot. In fact, he’d tell them that he’s not going to miss his practice session, and they have to work around that. We were on the same page and it worked very well for me. Today, I miss him, without any doubt.

Was there any moment in the movie that made you emotional?

ST: Yes. Even now, two days ago, we had our first viewing with the Indian armed forces and I became emotional. There are (emotional) moments, and I am hoping that people will also feel that. I have possibly seen this movie 20 times. You will realise that ‘these are the moments’. Once you will watch, you will know. Even while talking on those things, I got emotional.

Your liking for music is legendary. Do you watch movies? What kind?

ST: I watch all sorts of movies. Right from my childhood days. We did not match English movies in my childhood. Must have been very few. But, Marathi and Hindi movies, for sure. Over a period, I started watching English movies. In school days, we wanted action movies, so it was movies like Top Gun (1986). I did not watch serious movies and dramas those days. But now, I enjoy everything. In fact, we friends get together and watch old Marathi movies and laugh. We do that and are, in fact, planning one. In the next few days, we will end up watching something. Ashi Hi Banwa Banwi (Marathi movie) is something that I want to watch.

Planning a special screening for Achrekar sir?

ST: I have not seen it with sir. Tomorrow, sir is coming. Without him, nothing possible.

Having watched your movie 20 times, is there anything that you think you have missed?

ST: That’s for James Erskine (director) to answer. He had 10,000 hours of footage, and I really admire their skills. How do you make sense of something over 35 years, and to squeeze that to two hours.
(James adds: “You can never make a perfect movie, especially with someone like Sachin. You give your best, describe it to perfection.”)

How much of a say did you have in the actors in the movie, say the young Sachin?

ST: Absolutely nothing. They (director) had taken over. I spoke and I said ‘this is the first innings I have played, now you need to play the second innings’. (James adds: “There was no control from Sachin. There was only a very positive journey together to make the best possible film.”)

Did you have to talk to the kids in the movie about how you were in your earlier days?

ST: They (directorial staff) had spoken to me what I was like. Of course, my brother was a big help. The film was shot in my house. What you see as a five-year-old Sachin in the movie is my house at Bandra’s Sahitya Sahwas. You see Ajit trying to teach Sachin playing, it is the actual ground where I grew up. Everything in the movie is as real as it can be. Only thing is that I cannot go back to a five-year-old (laughs).

Do you still go back to Sahitya Sahwas?

ST: I used to. In the recent past, I had not had time. I used to go to play table tennis there. Now, friends come over. We are in touch. We end up meeting mostly at my place. In fact, I was there three weeks ago.

Did you get carried away when money and fame came?

ST: Early on in my life, when I started playing for India, my father had his own way of putting things nicely. The message he gave me was, ‘Everything in life is temporary’. That time he was talking about 10 years, 15 years. Nobody knew that my career would last 24 years. ‘Cricket is actually one part of your life. Plenty has happened and plenty more will happen after 15 years. It is easy to get carried away. I can understand you are 16 and so many things have happened. Your final destination is to play for India. But to me, the journey has just begun. You have just opened the door. Now, people will see what you do. Think this as the start. Try and be a nice person, first of all. Respect what is being given and worship that. Don’t find short-cuts. And that you try and be a nice human being. Even after your cricketing days, people will like you. And, I want people to say that. I want people to want you. People should not say when is he leaving the room. People should say how long can you stay, and that is only because of the person that you are’. And I tried to do that.

(James adds: “The film is partly about father and son, Sachin as the husband and brother.  Even in the song, Rahman wanted to consciously put this kind of what life is really about.”)

How much of your personal aspects did you want to take in and how much to leave out of the movie?

ST: It boils down to the comfort level. I am a private person. My family also is. In fact, recently my sister did not want to come to one of the programmes. She said ‘Right now, I can move around wherever I want. People see me on TV and suddenly things will change around me. I don’t want all that. That is much bigger than the other programmes.’ They have always chosen to stay in the background. They are comfortable, and still comfortable where they are. And they are happy. For all of them, the greater satisfaction is to see happiness on my face, whether I am happy and I am able to do something. That gives them happiness. It has not been easy on them. I have been walking alone but they are all behind me.

In the movie, where was the beach sequence shot?

James Erskine: Shot in Goa. It was a beautiful day, we went to a private beach otherwise Sachin was going to get mobbed. We really wanted to be able to shoot a moment in nature reflecting on his life. It came out beautifully. It was not planned. It was done in 10-15 minutes.

How tough has it been for your children growing up, to be known as your children?

ST: It has been challenging, no doubt about that, when people are constantly focussing on you, and analysing everything you do. My childhood was never like that. Neither was yours. All of us, we have been given that freedom. That is the best thing in life. Arjun plays cricket. I remember saying when you guys felicitated me that ‘let your articles follow his performance. Let it not be the other way round’. As a father, talks happen at home, obviously. They face a different type of pressure. Constantly, people see them and want to take photos with them. Like me, they are also very private by nature. But I make them understand that this is only out of love. Whatever message my father gave me, I will give them. That is the best message anyone can give. I have told them. ‘try the best in life, whatever you want to. You have full freedom, be a nice person above all.’ I am their father first, then I am a cricketer.

How nostalgic was it to see your own first interview with Tom Alter? Were you nervous?

ST: Not much has changed. I am still nervous (laughs). It was something new. I was not used to all those things. With Tom also, I remember this was immediately after I was invited to bat against Kapil Dev by Dilip Vengsarkar at CCI. After I batted, Tom had asked me about Kapil Dev, ‘how was it like facing Kapil Dev?’. My answer was ‘he was ALSO good’ (laughs). Before that, he had asked me, ‘you prefer playing fast bowling or spin bowling’ and I said ‘I prefer playing fast bowling as the ball comes on to the bat and I can hit’. He followed that with the Kapil question (laughs).

What did you tell Virat Kohli after getting out in the 2011 World Cup final? It can be clearly seen in the movie?

ST: I told Virat that the ball was still swinging because dew was there. The ball had kind of stopped swinging, and that ball (that Tendulkar got out caught behind) swung. I wanted to warn him that the ball was swinging.

Before your debut in Pakistan in 1989, you said in an interview that you were disappointed not to be selected for the West Indies earlier that year…

ST: Yes. But I clearly remember. Rajbhai (Dungarpur) had come to Wankhede Stadium. He was the chairman of the selection committee and he said to me ‘focus on your exams, you are not going to the West Indies’. This was during the semifinals of Ranji Trophy, and we (Mumbai) were playing Delhi. I was having net session in the morning. I clearly remember Rajbhai walking up to me and saying, ‘Sachin, after this Ranji Trophy, you focus on your SSC exams. You will play for India but you are not going to the West Indies’. Rajbhai has always been extremely supportive. I remember my first tour of England with Kailash Gattani’s Star Cricket Club, Rajbhai was the one who brought sponsors so that I could go to England. It was difficult at that stage. Rajbhai was the one who sponsored my trip. He said ‘you are going to England and I want you to go there and learn more about cricket. England, and its conditions, will teach you all that’. Rajbhai has played a huge role in my life.

You lifted the World Cup in 2011. But, do you still regret not lifting it in 2003 (final vs Australia)?

ST: Why not 1996 World Cup? Whenever you go out to participate in any tournament, especially in the world stage, you want to make sure you lift that trophy. Sometimes you are able to do it (more than once). Very few teams, WI and Aus have done it. India did it in 2011 for the second time. I feel if you are allowed to play that match today, the players would have approached it differently. We were fully charged up. We went out to field, and right from the first over. It was a big moment. We were unbelievably charged up. If the same players were given another opportunity, they would approach it differently, even if the target is big. Differently only because of the introduction of T20. Those days, 358 was a Herculean task. Today it will be, but closer than in 2003. You still see people chasing 434. We have also on a number of occasions chased 325 and 340. That is because the format has changed, the rules have changed a little bit, the conditions have also changed. The mindset also have changed because of the introduction of T20 and the calculations are different. That is why I am saying we will approach differently