Mumbai, March 9 (IANS) Actress Parnieeti Chopra says the forthcoming sports biopic "Saina" was the challenge she was looking for because she was doing similar roles for a long time.

"I was looking for a challenge. The kind of films I was doing, they were more or less extensions of me, or perhaps what writers and directors thought of me. They were writing roles that were similar and I was choosing films that were similar. When this movie, Saina, came into my life, I was exactly looking for a film like this," said Parineeti.

"I was looking for something to surprise everyone with. I was looking for something I was not known for. I am known as the happy girl-next-door type, but that is not me. I wanted to show the real me on the big-screen. A sports biopic about a person who is still playing and known as the crazy tigress on court is something I was looking for," she said.

Earlier, actress Shraddha Kapoor was roped in to essay the role of badminton ace Saina Nehwal in the biopic. Shraddha reportedly dropped out owing to her health condition.

Talking about being trolled on social media after the teaser release, Parineeti said: "I have a different thought process. If I believe that someone is making a genuine point, I tend to agree with them. But when I know that someone is just heckling and saying stuff just to say stuff, I just ignore them."

Parineeti claimed that her goal with the film was to make people understand and respect the game of badminton and its players in India.
"We play galli cricket and badminton, and I thought to myself I can learn it within two to three days but that was not the case. Then I realised that people who play badminton for India or internationally are all together different than what we know. So, my personal goal with this film is for people to understand whatever the sport, do respect it. Badminton needs to be respected, because I don't know any sport that is as hectic and difficult to play as badminton, though the players make it look easy," she said.

"Saina" is directed by Amole Gupte and is set for a theatrical release on March 26.

--IANS iv/vnc