Sidharth Malhotra reveals who inspired him to play Captain Vikram Batra in biopic Shershaah

Sidharth Malhotra, who was last seen in Marjaavaan (2019), is psyched up about his next offering Shershaah. Jointly bankrolled by Dharma Productions and Kaash Entertainment, the upcoming biographical drama is based on the life of Param Vir Chakra awardee Kargil martyr Captain Vikram Batra.

Malhotra reveals that the inspiration to take on the role of Captain Vikram Batra came from a meeting with the martyr’s real-life twin brother, Vishal Batra, five years ago. The actor met with Vishal and was told of Vikram’s incredible personality, courage, patriotism and, of course, about the selflessness which would eventually see him lose his life for his country.

“I first met with Vishal Batra around five years ago, at the time with a completely different team. He and his family had approached me to discuss the potential of telling Vikram’s story and I must say I was immediately gripped emotionally by the way Vishal described Vikram’s life and his character – his charm, his courage and his all-round personality”, says Malhotra.

“We couldn’t make it work at the time, but it was a story I believed needed to be told. I approached Dharma Productions and they were immediately onboard and 5 years on we are so pleased with the end product”, he adds.

Maintaining a sense of authenticity and justice to Vikram’s story was important for Sidharth, who admits there is always a sense of pressure when it comes to portraying the character of a national hero in a sensitive way. “Vikram and I are both Punjabi and culturally of course we have several similarities, perhaps right through to our appearance. I believe this is why his family sought me to play his character. But it is one thing possessing the physical and background traits and another to accurately portray his personality. I feel meeting with Vishal helped with this greatly – the descriptions he used about his twin were incredible, it really helped me to take on some of his courage and strength,” he says.

"Doing his family proud was the priority for me, not commercial success. We’ve been on this five-year journey together and it was vital we got this right. Vishal told me that he had never visualised his brother on the battlefield before, but now when he sees me in Shershaah he can”, concludes Sidharth.

Directed by debutant filmmaker Vishnu Vardhan, Shershaah will premiere across 240 countries and territories on 12th August 2021 exclusively on Amazon Prime Video.

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