Prateik Babbar onboards UK-Indo film 'Lioness'

Actor Prateik Patil Babbar has joined Aditi Rao Hyderi and Paige Sandhu on the cast of the UK-India co-production Lioness, which is based on the life of princess Sophia Duleep.

To be directed by Kajri Babbar, the project celebrates the life of Sophia Duleep Singh, the daughter of Maharaja Duleep Singh, – the last ruler of the Sikh empire, and the goddaughter of Queen Victoria.

She was among the leading suffragettes who fought for women’s right to vote in 1900s Britain.

Prateik will play a Sikh character in the movie.

"It is an honour for me as a Punjabi to be a part of a film that celebrates the glory of Maharajah Ranjit Singh's granddaughter. From nursing Sikh soldiers in World War I to leading the Black Friday Suffragette march outside Houses of Parliament, Princess Sophia needs to be recognised and commemorated for her work," the actor said in a statement.

Lioness will explore the story of two British Punjabi women living in the UK, a century apart.

Sandhu, known for appearing in British television series such as Doctors and Emmerdale, will play Sophia in the movie, while Hydari will be in the role of Mehak Kaur, an educated, married immigrant woman living in 1990s Southall.

Prateik will portray the role of Rajdeep Singh, a British Sikh living in the 1990s in Southall.

The film, inspired by the research of Peter Bance, the historian who discovered the story of Sophia, is being made under a first-of-its-kind bilateral treaty signed by both countries in 2008.