A documentary on tennis stars Mahesh Bhupathi and Leander Paes, titled Break Point, will be launched on ZEE 5 from October 1

Mona

The star jodi of Indian tennis — Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi, also called Lee-Hesh — rose to the world number 1 position, bagged three Grand Slam titles together, had the longest doubles streak in Davis Cup history, but along with a fair share of controversies.

Over the last 10 years, this duo was approached multiple times for its story. While the two always had it at the back of their mind that they were going to ultimately share their story, with whom and in what format was the biggest question?Dangal director Nitesh Tiwari and his wife Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari, an equally acclaimed director, whom Bhupathi calls ‘storytellers second to none’, fitted the bill perfectly and Break Point was born.

“Nitesh and Ashwiny are huge tennis fans, we felt comfortable with them and went ahead and did it,” says Bhupathi, who would rather love to think of future than dwell in the past. “It was amazing to see all these matches, the production team culled the newspaper reports that we had never seen. It was exciting to revisit it all,” he adds.

Unique bonding

This journey has helped the duo gain perspective on what the other person was thinking. Any compromises are left behind on the court. “Too late for that, we are not going back to court since I am retired.” Bhupathi labels the bond they share as unique. “Ours is a bond very difficult to explain and hard for people to understand. The hardwork we put in, success we had, challenges we had, the disappointments we faced… Makes it all unique and it is going to stay like that forever.”

An introvert by nature, Bhupathi isn’t the one to give unnecessary interviews, but Break Point meant sharing it all in front of the camera. “It was a first, and I had to come out of my comfort zone,” he admits, and also that his wife, Lara Dutta, who was recently seen playing Indira Gandhi in Bell Bottom, helped him all through it all. “She knew from the very first call for the interview; about the entire journey for 18 months and the challenges.” While for Lara to essay different characters was a given, for Bhupathi it was tough as he was no actor! The biggest challenge they faced through the shoot was to follow Covid protocols. “While Paes and I shot individually, the seven-part series has some 30-40 interviews with our colleagues, rivals, partners and family, shot across California, Texas and Sweden, which was quite a difficult task.”

Sports icons

OTT has lately brought plenty of sports stories for viewers globally, and Bhupathi has enjoyed Maradona’s and Michael Jordan’s, “It’s great to have these inspiring stories for this generation on screen.” This has also been a good year for Indian sports, “Hockey bronze and Neeraj Chopra’s gold at the Olympics have been the highlight, but also let’s not forget the disappointments at boxing and shooting. India is far from where it should be in the sports arena, but the recent wins have been a step in the right direction.”

“Opposites attract, and that’s how we were such a good team,” says Bhupathi.

Break Point will release on ZEE 5 from October 1.