He is lean and fit which is a sign that he was always inclined towards sports. You name the sports and he's played it all. Meet Rajeev Khandelwal, 40, one of Indian's finest actors. The crowd at the UBA Pro Basketball League Season-3 certainly mesmerised Rajeev. In fact, on Saturday, watching the thriller final match between Chennai Slam and Punjab Steelers reminded Rajeev of his basketball days.
“I have never seen such a crowd for a basketball match. The noise was immense which shows that the people here love this sport,” said Rajeev while talking to Sportskeeda, who was in town to promote his upcoming thriller movie Fever.
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He's known for enticing acting in the Bollywood movies like Amir, Table No 21, Soundtrack and many others. However not many know about his sports background.
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Horse-riding, basketball, cricket, volleyball, tennis are just a few of the sports that Rajeev ventured during his schooling days. Born in Jaipur, Rajeev’s inclination towards basketball in fact has a funny and sweet little story behind it. "During my schooling days there was girl who used to practice basketball at the court. She was really good at it. All the boys on the court wanted to play the game. So in short she inspired us to take up basketball," he blushed.
Col Sanjeev, Rajeev's bother has been a national basketball player which is another reason why he loves this sport. "I've seen him play and am really proud the way he has excelled. As a basketball player, I represented my school and college," added Rajeev, who has a degree in Chemistry from St. Xavier's College, Ahmedabad.
While talking about Chennai Slam’s shooting guard Agu, he said, "He has a good presence of mind. I liked the way he covered the court. He converted several shots in Chennai's favour. I was really impressed by his performance."
When it comes to movies, Rajeev is quite meticulous, which evident by movies he has done. Rajeev was torn between picking up a favourite sport – tennis or cricket. But after a lot of thought, he went ahead with cricket and hopes to do a biopic on country's most seasoned and one of India’s greatest opening batsman Sunil Gavaskar. "He is India's finest cricketer and he has definitely proved his worth. I would be honoured to a biopic which would talk volumes about his heroic," he informed.
The sports fanatic, Rajeev hopes that in coming days basketball reaches many and paces to be India’s most played game. "Basketball as a game is yet to make a mark in our country. But these UBA players are out to prove a point. They are fast, talented and entertaining. Hopefully, in due course of time basketball would be one of the most played games in our country," he signed off.
