Ashoke Pandit to make film on athlete Pinki Pramanik

Filmmaker-producer Ashoke Pandit is set to make a film on the life of former Indian athlete Pinki Pramanik. While the film's title and cast have not yet been confirmed, it is being written by Priyanka Ghatak.

A track and field athlete who participated in the 4x400 metre relay, Pramanik rose to fame after winning a silver medal in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. This was followed by a gold medal at the 2006 Asian Games. Successive injuries since 2007 blighted Pramanik's career, leading to her retirement. In 2012, the athlete was accused of rape and subjected to a test to determine her gender. While several state examiners declared her to be a male, Pramanik denied the allegation. She maintained that her hormonal changes were due to the drugs she was compelled to take during her career to help improve her performance.

The filmmaker shared his excitement at the announcement of the new project on social media. He wrote, "Excited to announce our next project — the riveting story of gold medalist athlete Pinki Pramanik. Written by Priyanka Ghatak, the cast and crew to be finalized soon."

Pandit had told the news agency Indo-Asian News Service, "Writer Priyanka Ghatak read about this athlete and came up with this thought. We worked on the story for nearly 6-7 months and did our research. We feel this story has to be narrated to the world. We have been in touch with Pinki Pramanik, met her in Kolkata and signed the rights for making the film. Very soon the cast and entire technical crew will be on board."