It has been four long years since there has been incessant conversation around the Kalpana Chawla biopic. But now it seems as though, the wait is over, the biopic of Kalpana Chawla, the late American astronaut of Indian origin, could be in the making. According to a report in Filmibeat, the film will reportedly be produced by Yash Raj Films and directed by Shimit Amin, who is best known for directing the Shah Rukh Khan-starrer Chak De! India (2007).
The talks of the Kalpana Chawla biopic started almost four years ago. Priyanka Chopra was supposed to act and co-produce the film along with Viacom 18. And later, there were media reports about how Deepika was too interested in doing the film and the makers have approached her for the film. But thereafter, the media was replete with reports of shelving of the project because Kalpana’s husband Jean-Pierre Harrison had denied the rights to the producer.
Kalpana Chawla was a NASA astronaut and engineer. She was born in Karnal, Haryana. She was the first-ever Indian woman to travel to space. She first flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in the year 1997. In 2003, however, the spacecraft fell apart upon its re-entry into the Earth’s atmosphere and Kalpana lost her life along with six other crew members. She was just 40 years of age. Her early demise had sent shocks across India and the world. Kalpana was later awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honour and several streets, universities and institutions have been named in her honour.
