Tennis fans are in for a treat as they'll get to witness the career and life of tennis legends Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupathi in ZEE5’s Original series, Break Point. The show will not only construct their epic tennis matches but also deconstruct their relationship, both on and off the court in a 7-part series. Leander and Mahesh made for the most successful and feared doubles pair during the late 1990s. Their magical partnership made them win many Grand Slams and accolades on the court. But whenever the Indian tennis pair needed a little something to get things going on the court, they would chest bump and that's how it came into play.
Talking about the same, Leander explained in a statement released by the Break Point makers, “Mahesh was very introvert and quiet. Our opponents would always attack him and I would be the one out there fighting against the bullies like I did when I was in school. I felt that I had to evoke a sense of physical aggression out of him. While Mahesh was in a shell and was quiet, I was pumping with adrenaline. In one of our earlier matches, I was at the net and looked back at Mahesh after a point, and he was quiet. I thought I have to rattle him up a bit otherwise we are not going to win this match. I started running towards him and I could see his eyes getting scared. I just jumped up to his chest and I thumped him in his chest. And then it became a thing. Whenever we were low on energy, we chest bumped. Whenever we were wanting to turn a match around, we chest bumped.”
Mahesh added, “I am pretty sure that the first time we did the chest bump was when we played our first Davis Cup match together. Considering the height difference, everything between us was spontaneous. It worked. In our minds, we were creating a new brand of doubles and it was apparent that people were coming to watch it. So we were enjoying it.”
A telling tale on friendship, partnership, brotherhood, ambition and hard work, the series also encapsulates their meteoric rise and highly publicized split that became a topic of heated speculation. The impactful trailer of Break Point has already stirred up a conversation, given that the tennis icons were among those instrumental in putting Indian tennis on the world map.
This 7-part ZEE5 series is helmed by award-winning filmmaker duo Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and Nitesh Tiwari, under their banner Earthsky Pictures. It is also the first time that they are co-directing a project and collaborating with ZEE5. Break Point will be exclusively available on ZEE5 from October 1st, 2021.
Image Source: ZEE5