Aug 16, 2026 11:09am IST
Shahid Kapoor To A Younger Lead: Raja Krishna Menon On Wanting to Revive Boxing Champion Dingko Singh’s Biopic (EXCLUSIVE)
Director Raja Krishna Menon still believes there is a film waiting to be made on the life of late Manipuri boxer Ngangom Dingko Singh. Years after deciding to move on from the biopic on the celebrated boxer he had once planned with Shahid Kapoor playing the lead, the director now exclusively tells Variety India that the story still remains close to his heart. However, Menon feels the casting needs to be reconsidered, particularly because much of Dingko’s defining journey happened when he was barely in his 20s.
He says, “Yes, the Dingko Singh biopic is an incredible story because he was quite an incredible man. He came from a place that needs representation.” For Menon, the appeal goes well beyond Dingko’s achievements inside the boxing ring.
“What he did changed the landscape there and turned it into a sports center. He was also kind of a maverick involved in many things. There’s a socio-political angle to his story as well,” shares Menon.
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Dingko won the gold medal in 54kg boxing at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok, a landmark achievement that helped establish him as one of India’s most important boxing figures. He later represented India at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and received the Arjuna Award and Padma Shri. He died in 2021 at the age of 42
The project was previously conceived with Shahid Kapoor attached to play Dingko, but its long development has changed Menon’s perspective on the casting. The “Airlift” director says, “I don’t know if Shahid would be interested anymore in doing it because, one, Dingko was very young… in his 20s… when much of his life’s story took place.. It’s definitely a film that needs to be made. And it needs to be made with someone younger.”
Menon acknowledges that bringing Dingko’s life to the screen would be challenging. “It’s not an easy film to make, but one that I would really love to make if it all falls into place,” Menon says.
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