Mumbai: Neeraj Pandey and Shital Bhatia, who are owners of content companies, Friday Filmworks (films) & Friday Storytellers (digital) & makers of highly acclaimed films like Wednesday, Special 26, Baby, Rustom, Dhoni, Toilet – Ek Prem Katha & recently two of India’s biggest digital series, Special Ops & Special Ops 1.5 on Disney+ Hotstar; have founded the company along with Sudip, an ex-banker and a sports aficionado.
Neeraj explained his vision for their new group company, “ The non-live creative sports content space is hugely under-served in India compared to markets elsewhere and there is a tremendous opportunity here to create entertaining, impactful & discernable content. There is a huge audience that’s interested in real-life stories that are inspiring and journeys that are motivational across different sports. Bootroom aspires to fill this need gap. We want to cover these Indian sports stories in-depth & variety like never done before. ”
Shital gave further insights into the aggressive near-term plans for the company, “We have been investing heavily in our new venture and are currently working on developing our slate of films, digital series and documentaries across sports like cricket, kabaddi, boxing, gymnastics, running and football. We have acquired rights for biopics & team stories while also working on unique fictional ideas. We now have a full-fledged content and research team working solely on curating the best stories in sports in India”.
Sudip announced their first project by adding, “At Bootroom, our simple goal is to tell inspiring sports stories that can help bring change. Our DNA is to look for atypical stories and we are launching our company with a Hindi film inspired by the life of Indian cricketer ‘Pravin Tambe’. He made his international debut at the age of 41 in the Indian Premier League and is the oldest player in IPL history. His life is exemplary of the fact that ‘Dreams do not come with an expiry date’. We aspire to make Pravin Tambe a household name through this film which can hopefully inspire the dreams of many Indians. We are grateful to Pravin for believing in us to make a film on his life”.
