Actor Diljit Dosanjh is gearing up for his upcoming, Soorma, a biopic on Indian hockey player, Sandeep Singh. The movie is being directed by Shaad Ali, who has earlier helmed films like Saathiya, Jhoom Barabar Jhoom, Kill Dil and OK Jaanu in Bollywood. The director, who has been a loyal assistant to filmmaker Mani Ratnam, shares his experience of making a film on the athlete, more popularly known as Flicker Singh.

As he talked to a leading daily, the director shared how he landed up making Soorma. He said, "I began by speaking to former Indian hockey team captain Sandeep Singh (who made his international debut in 2004, but was paralysed and wheelchair-bound for two years after being hit by an accidental gunshot in 2006, on a train, when he was on his way to join the national team which was leaving for the World Cup that year."

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He added, "I had received a handwritten essay from Sandeep (now aged 32), which he had given to Deepak Singh and Chitrangda Singh (co-producers of Soorma). After reading it, I told them that we should focus on developing this story. We decided on this before OK Jaanu’s release".

Ali also revealed why he wanted Diljit to play the lead in the film. He said one of the major reasons was the fact that he won't have to work on changing the actor's look for the film. He shared, "Dosanjh was the first choice for the role of Sandeep. I had seen him in Punjab 1984 (2014) and liked his screen presence a lot, even when I watched him sing. With him, I thought, I don’t have to work on his appearance".

Also featuring Taapsee Pannu and Angad Bedi in other pivotal roles, Soorma is slated for release on July 13.