It has been four years since Saina, starring Parineeti Chopra, a biopic on ace badminton champion Saina Nehwal, was released. Directed by Amole Gupte, the film depicted Saina’s journey before she became the World No. 1 badminton player. The movie showcases Saina’s struggles, the sacrifices made by her parents, and her early training days at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. Despite being appreciated for narrating Saina’s inspiring story, the film was a disaster at the box office.

As the film completes four years since its theatrical release, we revisit why Shraddha Kapoor, who was initially cast as Saina, was eventually replaced by Parineeti Chopra.

In an old interview, the film’s director, Amole Gupte, revealed that Shraddha was originally set to play Saina’s character and had even begun shooting for the film. The Stree 2 actress was rigorously training to portray the badminton player, but her health issues became a major roadblock.

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"Shraddha was in full preparation, which is why we started shooting. She practiced hard to become Saina and was doing good work. But she got dengue and became frail after spending a month in bed. She kept asking me if she could try and return, and we kept pushing. But one day, she admitted that she was feeling too weak. It wasn’t about shooting emotional scenes. It was about playing badminton for 12 hours. And you need strength for that," Amole told Bollywood Hungama.

It was Bhushan Kumar, the producer of Saina, who suggested that Parineeti take up the role, while offering Shraddha Street Dancer 3D as an alternative. “Bhushan then brought Parineeti in for me for Saina. It was all happy happy. Parineeti happy, Shraddha happy, Bhushan Kumar happy, and I am also very happy. At least the film wasn’t shut down. It just took five years to arrive," said Amole.

Saina was first announced in 2017 with Shraddha in the titular role. After multiple delays, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the film was finally released in cinemas on March 26, 2021. However, it managed to collect only ₹1.20 crore at the box office and was declared a flop.