Actor Kal Penn to play Toronto Raptors 'superfan' in biopic

2 years ago 37

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Image source, Getty Images

The Toronto Raptors so-called superfan Nav Bhatia already has an NBA championship ring, and now he's getting the Hollywood treatment.

US actor Kal Penn, star of the Harold & Kumar film franchise, has signed on to star and produce a biopic about the Toronto-based car salesman.

Mr Bhatia has become a beloved staple of Toronto Raptors fandom.

He has sat courtside for almost every home game since the basketball team was established in 1995.

Writing on Twitter, Mr Bhatia thanked Mr Penn "from the bottom of my heart for accepting this role".

"I'm pinching myself," he said.

Mr Penn , 44, applauded Mr Bhatia's story of "perseverance and unity" and said he was excited to bring the story to film.

Mr Bhatia's story is also covered in a new documentary by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

Superfan: The Nav Bhatia story follows him through his journey from India to Canada in 1984, the racism he experienced after immigrating, and how he first got his courtside Raptors seats.

Image source, Getty Images

Mr Bhatia, a mechanical engineer, struggled to get a job after moving to Canada, he told The Toronto Star newspaper.

After finally finding work at a Hyundai dealership outside of Toronto, customers "didn't want me to serve them", he said, recalling how they sometimes used racial slurs.

He called that period the lowest of his life, but also the "most motivational".

Mr Bhatia has attended nearly every home game since the inception of Canada's sole National Basketball Association (NBA) team in 1995. He was honoured by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2020 - the first fan inducted into the museum.

Mr Bhatia told the Toronto Star that his "obsession" has occasionally taken a toll on his relationships.

"I have missed birthdays, I have missed wedding anniversaries... everything is around the schedule of basketball," he said.

The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship in 2019. Mr Bhatia became the first fan in NBA history to be given a championship ring, a 640-plus diamond and gold rock.