Field Marshal Sam Hormusji Framji Jamshedji Manekshaw, who was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971, is a modern day legend. Also known as Sam Bahadur, he was the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. Interestingly, filmmaker Meghna Gulzar, who recently wrapped up Chhapaak with Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey, is making a film based on the life of Sam Manekshaw and guess what, she has found its protagonist in Vicky Kaushal.
Confirming that she and her team wanted to finish the edit on the draft first before reaching out to an actor, Meghna told a leading daily, "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." Apparently, Vicky loved the script completely. Further revealing that she had spoken to Vicky about the film during shoot of their last collaboration Raazi, Meghna added that their film is not a biopic. "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,” she added.
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Vicky, on the other hand, wants to prep for the role by meeting people who have known Manekshaw closely, besides reading up on him and watching his videos to get the mannerisms right. Incidentally, the film marks Vicky’s reunion with Ronnie after Uri: The Surgical Strike, and with Meghna after last year’s Raazi. When asked about it, the actor stated, “Working with them feels like home. I have the utmost respect and love for who they are as filmmakers and people."
Meghna shared Vicky's first look as Sam Manekshaw on Instagram and announced the film. She captioned her post as, "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!"
The team will start shooting in 2021 the Partition and will cover accession of Kashmir, and the 1971 Indo-Pak war in the narrative.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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