We said it first. As far back as on January 24. That Veer Pahariya, who made his Bollywood debut that day with ‘Sky Force’, is going to go places. Audiences who caught the Jio Studios-Maddox Films production on the Indo-Pak War of 1965 have all come away super impressed by Veer’s performance. His character is a rebellious Squadron Leader who breaks convention and takes the war to the enemy by disobeying orders and going into battle to rescue his co-fighter pilots. And Veer played it with a quiet confidence and authority, a killer glint in his eye and panther-like stride. “It was almost like seeing Virat Kohli stepping up to the crease to score runs against Pakistan when India needed them most in an exciting World Cup match,” PeepingMoon.com had written.

Film and cricket aficionados and fans of the debutant actor and star batsman who have started to notice the resemblance between Veer and Virat are starting to say the same thing. For a long time, Virat has been besieged by questions about a Bollywood biopic on himself, and like an artful batsman dodging a bouncer has managed to avoid the same. Now Veer, who has been receiving a lot of love for his role as an IAF fighter pilot in ‘Sky Force’, is being asked whether he is interested in playing the role of Team India’s star batsman. With great humility, he replied, “Virat sir toh bahut mahan hai. He is legendary. Ek josh, jasba, junoon hai apne kaam ko leke. Ya, I mean, it is very exciting what you are saying, very overwhelming. Hopefully in the years to come if you feel I am deserving, I will work very hard and if the makers are ever making a film (on Virat Kohli) and if they feel I am deserving would love to be a part of it.”