Vicky Kaushal REPLACES Irrfan Khan in Shoojit Sircars Udham Singh biopic

4 Mar 2019

Vicky Kaushal is the current blue eyed boy of Bollywood and well, apart from an outstanding talent to perform on screen, he has some rather enviable films in his kitty right now. After the smash hit success of films like Sanju, Uri: The Surgical Strike and Raazi , he will be seen as the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in Takht next and also as an astronaut Rakesh Sharma in Saare Jahan Se Accha.Whats more? It is now confirmed that Kaushal will play the freedom fighter and revolutionary Sardar Udham Singh in Shooijt Sircar directed biopic. The role was written for Irrfan Khan before but it went to Kaushal after Khans prolonged illness. Though Irrfan is recuperating well and is all up and about with his work after returning to India, he wants to start off with something less challenging, physically. Therefore, reports suggest that it was he suggested Sircar to go ahead with someone else and the makers locked on Vicky Kaushal. Udham Singh was a daring martyr who assassinated Michael O Dwyer, the former lieutenant governor of Punjab in pre-Independence India, in revenge for the Jallianwala Bagh massacre in Amritsar in 1919. It was during ODwyers tenure as Lieutenant Governor that the massacre occurred. Singh was subsequently tried and convicted of murder and hanged in July 1940. The film will be produced by Ronnie Lahiri under the banner Rising Sun Films. Speaking on casting Vicky, Sircar said, I have been waiting to tell the heroic tale of Shaheed Udham Singh for a very long time. It is a story very close to my heart. For it, I needed an actor who could give his heart and soul to the film, be with me and tell the story together. Vicky fits the bill perfectly. I have seen his work and the dedication he brings to it. Im very happy he is on board this project. Talking about Irrfan, who was originally supposed to play this part Shoojit elaborates, Irrfan and I have had a discussion on this. He is recovering well and is in a good mood. He wants to start work on films but for now, he would like to do a film that does not require the kind of strenuous physical action that this film would. He told me to move on since we have waited for long on this film. He and I are in touch and we are working on something else together. Elated to be play this patriot for Shoojit Sircar, Vicky Kaushal said, Since the time I started working as an actor in the industry, there was a wish list of the directors I wanted to work with. Shoojit sir was always on top of that list. So it is like a dream come true that he is finally directing me. And, what better story than Udham Singh! Being a Punjabi, I have always heard about his stories, heard about his life as I was growing up and he has always come across as a mysterious character. The more mysterious a character, the more stimulating it becomes for an actor and for the director as well. I am so looking forward to becoming Udham Singh and translating Shoojit sirs vision. I just feel that this is one person whose life story India should know and I am really excited for this journey to start.