Pritish Nandy Communications brings you the craziest, most amazing love story of the year! And the one thing it’s not about is hearts, flowers and Cupid with his bow-n-arrow! Infact, tweak it a little, take away the bow-n-arrow and put a bat in Cupid’s plump little arms and what you’ve got is Meerabai Not Out!

Meera Achrekar, a mathematics teacher at Vishwaprem Vidyalaya, has been a happy single for quite a while now. The great love of her life has been, and will always remain, cricket and Anil Kumble. The meticulous number cruncher is, despite not being the classic eye-candy-teenage-fantasy-fodder, a huge hit in class. And that’s because Meera, unlike most teachers of her school, is more fanatical about her religion–cricket–than even the school cricket captain!

Living with her family in their small home in a Mumbai chawl, Meera was initiated into her temple of Wankhede Stadium by her brother, Manoj.

While the folk at Bhaktiyog Society have cast aspersions on her craze towards the game, the bigger problem that worries the Achrekar family is Meera’s still-single status. Love suddenly blossoms with heart-specialist, Dr Arjun Sachdeva and Meera realizes that perhaps there is more to life than praying for Team India and Anil Kumble! However, in between this fabulous exchange of text messages, Valentine’s Day outings and walks along Chowpatty, she confesses to Arjun that she is already married–to cricket!

So, while the maiden’s heart beats for Anil Kumble, the more important question is: will Meera be able to commit to her non-striker beau and keep her prospective father-in-law at bay?

Each day of shoot was like setting up a correct field…and each shot like aiming for a boundary. We had fun on and off the field. All the sweat on the pitch was worth it. Though I am a Bindhast guy (pun intended) yet I am biting my nails. I loved every moment of the making. I had to be a Chappell sometimes and sometimes the third man… waiting anxiously. Dedication, teamwork and passion…that’s what I felt is common between cricket and film making.

Chandrakant Kulkarni

Meera Achrekar is, well, Meera Achrekar. Quite unlike any other maths teacher you are ever likely to meet. In Shivaji Park or, for that matter, anywhere else in India. No wonder her students swear by her. No wonder they score the highest marks.

Stern, firm and otherwise seriously serious, Meera Achrekar (urf Mandira Bedi) has just one secret chink in her mail armour– Anil Kumble. Her knees turn to jelly at the very thought of him. (And thus you have the fabled leg spinner’s first starring role on the big screen.)

Right in the midst of her two loves—cricket and Kumble—arrives Arjun. (Television’s hottest star Eijaz Khan leaps off the small screen to woo Meera Achrekar and who can resist him?) Well, to begin with, two people. Her grumpy brother Mahesh Anant Achrekar, played by the inimitable Mahesh Manjrekar, a real life Shivaji Park denizen today and Arjun’s surprised father Dr Sachdeva (Anupam Kher in yet another magical role) who simply can’t accept the fact that his son would want to marry a woman already married twice over to cricket.

A wedding that never took place, a rocking cricket anthem, Kumble’s hichkis and a fighting innings at the end make for one of the most enjoyable films we have ever made in PNC. I owe it to Raj Kaushal who brought the idea to our doorstep and his charming wife who finally confesses to never having much liked Mandira Bedi simply because her know of cricket pales before Meera Achrekar’s. Yeah, we are all Meerabai fans at PNC and, if we had our way, she will never be given out, Darrell Hair or no Darrell Hair.

Pritish Nandy