Narain Karthikeyan’s journey to F1 glory to hit the silver screen in upcoming biopic
Narain Karthikeyan left every Indian proud after the news broke out of him becoming the first ever Indian to participate in the Formula One at the 2005 Australian GP for Jordan Grand Prix. 20 years later, his inspiring journey is all set to be played on the silver screen in the form of a feature film. Acclaimed filmmaker Mahesh Narayanan is set to direct a Tamil-language biopic, which is slated for release next year.
Narain Karthikeyan hails from Coimbatore. During his early years, motorsport was still in its infancy. He steadily rose through the ranks, with impressive performances in the British Formula 3, the Macau Grand Prix, and the World Series by Nissan helping him become a household name, leading to his entry in Formula 1.
“People understand what F1 is now after Drive to Survive (documentary series on F1 championships) on Netflix, and now the F1 movie as well. So it’s great to tell the story about India’s first F1 driver. To break all the barriers to get there coming from India, there is a lot of drama in it,” said Narain in a chat with Sportstar.
Karthikeyan spoke about the challenges of breaking into the list of elite 20 drivers. Shedding light on his journey, here’s what he said:
“You can see how tough it is, and F1 has always been like this. It is tough to be one of the elite 20 drivers. To then break other barriers, it was tremendously difficult, but it was exciting as well. Formula One was my dream, and I think it was a fantastic and wild journey,” added the former F1 driver who started 46 races over three seasons (2005, 2011-12).
“Twenty to 25 years ago, we were just opening up” - Narain Karthikeyan
Narain Karthikeyan explained that around 20 to 25 years ago, India was just beginning to open up to the world, and the common perception of Indians was limited to traditional professional roles such as lawyers or doctors. Racing was not seen as a viable or recognized career option.
To highlight how rare it was for someone from Asia to enter Formula 1, he pointed out that even after his own debut in the sport, it took another 16 years before a Chinese driver made it to Formula 1. This shows how challenging and uncommon it was for drivers from the region to break into the highest level of motorsport.
“Twenty to 25 years ago, we were just opening up, and people saw Indians as professionals like lawyers or doctors, not racers. To put it in perspective, it took another 16 years after my debut for a Chinese F1 driver.
