Describing Ghoomer as a unique cricket movie, filmmaker R. Balki says his next directorial venture is his way of giving back to the sport.

Known for films such as Cheeni Kum, Ki and Ka and Pad Man, Balki is directing and producing Ghoomer, which features Shabana Azmi, Abhishek Bachchan, Saiyami Kher and Angad Bedi in pivotal roles.

The story, which Balki co-wrote with Rahul Sengupta and Rishi Virmani, is inspired by the story of Karoly Takacs, the late Hungarian right-hand shooter who won two Olympic gold medals with his left hand after his other hand was seriously injured.

“Ghoomer is a unique story. It's almost like inventing a new ball in cricket. It is a story of a girl — a cricketer — who loses her hand and how a person inspires her to become a champion,” said Balki on the sidelines of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI).

According to the director, the team spent a lot of time developing a new style of bowling, something the sport has not seen. “To me, the making of Ghoomer was to discover something new in cricket as we have already seen so many films on cricket. If I’m doing just a cricket film, what would I give back to cricket or the sport? We did a lot of research and actually came up with a new delivery, which is yet unexplored in the game of cricket.”

“Rahul had an idea about making a movie with the Hungarian shooter angle. I suggested that we could make a cricket film as it would be immediately recognisable to a lot of people,” he said.

The filmmaker has already completed the filming of Ghoomer, which is currently in the editing stage. The makers are planning to release it in the theatres sometime in March next year.

Balki, whose last release was the thriller Chup: Revenge of the Artist, said working on Ghoomer was a taxing process as it usually takes him some time to move from one project to another.

Ghoomer also features Shivendra Singh Dungarpur and Ivanka Das.