Vicky Kaushal to play Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar’s film: In the last four years in Bollywood, Vicky Kaushal has established himself as a versatile actor. If he redefined friendship goals as the affable Kamli in Rajkumar Hirani’s Sanju, his high on Josh avatar in Uri: The Surgical Strike made him an overnight star. Now, the 31-year-old actor has bagged a film on the life of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. The film will be produced by Ronnie Screwvala.
Vicky Kaushal took to Instagram to share his look from the film. The actor wrote, “I feel honoured, emotional and proud of getting a chance to unfold the journey of this fearless patriot, the swashbuckling general, the first Field Marshal of India- SAM MANEKSHAW. Remembering him on his death anniversary today and embracing the new beginnings with @meghnagulzar and #RonnieScrewvala”
A Soldier’s Soldier.
A Gentleman’s Gentleman.
In remembrance, on the death anniversary of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
It is my honour to tell the story of one of India’s greatest war heroes, with @vickykaushal09 essaying the historic man!@RonnieScrewvala @RSVPMovies pic.twitter.com/Ry4J7EIFjN— Meghna Gulzar (@meghnagulzar) June 27, 2019
Meghna Gulzar, who has wrapped up the shooting of Chhapaak with Deepika Padukone, told Mumbai Mirror that it was during the shooting of Raazi that she shared the story of Sam Manekshaw with Vicky Kaushal.
#FirstLook @RSVPMovies release @VickyKaushalOfficial’s new look as #SamManekshaw on his death anniversary and it bears uncanny resemblance to #Sam. Check out!
@MeghnaGulzarOfficial @RonnieScrewvala #VickyKaushal pic.twitter.com/UKuAvTN43y— Atul Mohan (@atulmohanhere) June 27, 2020
She said, “We wanted to finish the edit on the draft first before reaching out to an actor. One day, I just called up Vicky, who happened to be nearby and invited him over for a cold coffee. We had a conversation about Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. He was about to fly to the US and said that he doesn’t want to read the script and would just do the film. But I insisted that he read it and call me.”
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According to the report of Mumbai Mirror, Meghna recalled how during the making of Raazi, she had shared stories about Manekshaw with Vicky. She said: “And he remembers them. Ours is not a biopic, because it does not chronologically just record Sam Manekshaw’s life. We need to make an interesting narrative when telling a story by picking out the most crucial, iconic and relevant incidents of his life, giving a view of the soldier, the man, and the Field Marshal.”
Vicky too shared his views. He was quoted in the report as saying, “I personally couldn’t witness his achievements, but my parents would always tell me that he was a fearless patriot with amazing leadership quality. The first time I’d heard of him in the context of the 1971 Indo-Pak war.” The report adds that Vicky would be meeting people close to Manekshaw as prep for his role, apart from reading about him and watching his videos to get the mannerisms right.
Talking about his second collaboration with Meghna Gulzar, Vicky told the daily, “Working with them feels like home. I have the utmost respect and love for who they are as filmmakers and people.”
Vicky, meanwhile, is busy with his Udham Singh biopic, being directed by Shoojit Sircar. Pictures from the St Petersburg shooting schedule couple of months back were shared by the actor. The actor looked quite different in the early 1900s look in a long overcoat and a hat.
Meghna is also busy with her film Chhapaak, in which Deepika Padukone will be seen playing an acid attack survivor, Malti. The film is inspired by the real-life story of Delhi’s acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal. Chhapaak also stars Vikrant Massey.
Who is Sam Manekshaw in Indian Army?
Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, MC, popularly known as Sam Bahadur, was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, and the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of field marshal
The film is set to go on the floors next year. “We will start shooting in 2021, which is good for all of us because it needs that much prep time as we have the Partition, accession of Kashmir and the 1971 Indo-Pak war to cover in the narrative,” said Meghna Gulzar.
The film has been written by Bhavani Iyer, who also wrote Raazi and Shantanu Srivastava of Badhaai Ho fame. The film will mark the second time Meghna and Vicky will work together after Raazi, while it will also be a second time for Ronnie and Vicky after Uri: The Surgical Strikes.
