Director duo Ashwiny Iyer and Nitesh Tiwari in their first ever collaboration together bring us ‘Break Point‘, the story of two legendary Indian tennis players Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati. The intriguing, untold story of ‘Lee-Hesh’, from Bromance to Breakup, marks their first OTT Sports web series and collaboration with Zee5 under their banner Earthsky Pictures. ‘Break Point’, a 7-part Docu-drama series based on the iconic on-court partnership and off-court camaraderie between these two living legends, is all set to premiere from October 1st.
We caught up with Mahesh Bhupathi, ahead of the release of ‘Break Point’. Here are some excerpts from our conversation-
BINGED- Hi Mahesh, Welcome to Binged. Great to speak with you. Not taking too much of your time, we’ll start by asking how did the series ‘Break Point’ come to be? Did Ashwiny & Nitesh Tiwari approach you and Leander with the idea of making a series on your relationship or was it the other way round?
MAHESH- We heard that they were interested in talking to us about the story and that’s when we spoke to them and heard what they had to say. That’s when the ball started rolling.
BINGED– Why this opening up now – is it purely for commercial reasons or is it because you want the world to know what really happened between you two..
MAHESH- Well, we’ve been approached multiple times in the past, but were just never comfortable with either the narrative, the structure or the platform and I think obviously the pedigree of Ashwiny and Nitesh is very high. They’ve told sports stories before and they were excited to do this and from our perspective it was good to see.
BINGED- Oh so you’ve been approached before by others? By who, may we know?
MAHESH- Yes, multiple times, though I can’t disclose who. But we liked this one. It’s a docu-drama. We’re talking about our perspective on the whole journey.
BINGED- Was reliving the split during the filming of the series a painful experience? Did it dig up old wounds?
MAHESH- We knew what we were getting into when we signed up for it, so we were willing to do it and I think Nitesh and Ashwini, through all the preparation and multiple hours of Zoom interactions, gave us the comfort so it was pretty good.
BINGED- We saw a kind of reconciliation on a popular interview recently, which was pretty heartwarming to see as viewers. Given a chance, will you partner with Leander for a match now, that it’s been almost a decade after the fall-out..
MAHESH- I mean, we’re retired so we don’t play tennis anymore, but if we have to, we will.
BINGED- Apparently, your daughters play together so you meet often?
MAHESH- Not together but they play at the same academy, so we run into each other a lot.
BINGED- Instead of Tennis, if you had to choose any other field, what would it have been?
MAHESH- I’ve been playing tennis since I was 3, so that question has never popped into my head. It’s always been tennis all my life.
BINGED- Well, Leander has tried his hand at films. If you were to act in a film, what sort of role would you like to play?
MAHESH- I don’t think that was ever an option. I’m not a camera friendly guy so have never considered it.
BINGED- Do you ever plan to get into the film line or any such thing post ‘Break Point’?
MAHESH- Nothing yet, we’re just excited about this.. I mean, let’s see how it goes.. but definitely not getting into the film line.
BINGED- Is there anything exclusive that you can tell us about the show?
MAHESH- No I don’t want to give out any spoilers. (Laughs) That’s not gonna happen!
‘Break Point’ will be a special behind-the-scenes narrative on the duo, that will finally put speculations to rest, as the sports champions Paes and Bhupathi, get candid about each other and honestly tell the world what happened and why. A story of ‘dysfunctional love’ as they put it and of two friends, who planned for success, but unfortunately, not for life after success. The series streams on Zee5 on 1st October in English, Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.
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