Tennis legends Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi have brought much glory to India in their playing days. They were the first Indian pair to win the Wimbledon doubles title in 1999. Paes also won a bronze medal in the singles event at the 1996 Olympics.
After achieving much success, the two broke up with some acrimony and went their separate ways, leaving many questions unanswered. Now, at least some of those questions that fans and gossips have speculated about ever since will be answered in the Zee5 Original docu-series Break Point.
The web-series has been helmed by the award-winning filmmaker duo Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari. The streaming platform unveiled the first-look poster on Instagram. The poster features an image of Paes and Bhupathi at a tense moment in a match while the legend says, 'Bromance to breakup: The untold story of Paes and Bhupathi.'
The caption for the post says, 'They put Indian tennis on the map but walked away when they had the world at their feet. It’s time to finally hear the untold story of Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes.'
According to a report on the website of India Today magazine, Paes said, “I enjoyed this walk down memory lane shooting for Break Point. While Mahesh and my on-court partnership was widely covered, our off-court chemistry was largely speculated. This is the first time that our fans will get to see and hear it all, first-hand.”
Bhupathi added, “It is no secret that I am reserved when it comes to communicating, so this is a big step for me to relive the journey and put it all out there in the most candid and honest manner. But, at the same time, I am happy that our fans will get to see our journey which was a mix of sweat, perseverance, brotherhood and at times blood and tears as well.”
Paes-Bhupathi was the most feared doubles pair during the late 1990s, and even ranked world number 1 in 1999. Bhupathi retired in 2016 while Paes announced his retirement only this year after representing India for over 30 years.