Randeep Hooda opens up on his transformation for Rajkumar Santoshi's unreleased film on Battle of Saragarhi

In 2016, it was announced that Rajkumar Santoshi would be making a film based on the Battle of Saragarhi , starring Randeep Hooda. The battle took place in 1897 between British Indian Army and Afghan Orakzai tribesmen in the North-West Frontier Province. [caption id=“attachment_6927361” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Randeep Hooda’s first look from his now stalled project. Image from Twitter[/caption] Hooda had shared his look as Havildar Ishar Singh, the military commander of the 36th Sikhs in Santoshi’s film, on Twitter. However, the film never made it to cinemas despite the massive hard work Hooda put in to transform for the role, which included growing out his hair and learning Sikh martial arts. Akshay Kumar also essayed the same role in Kesari , which released on 21 March this year. It went on to become one of the highest grossing films of 2019. “I already spent two-and-a-half years with a long beard and hair, and turned into a Sikh. The beard was up to my bellybutton. I didn’t cut a single hair on my body for two-and-a-half years, like Sikhs do. I really attempted to live that character,” Hooda said in an interview with Film Companion . The actor shared that he had shot half of the film after which it is was stalled. Hooda has previously undergone a drastic transformation for his role in Sarbjit . He not only shed a lot of weight, but also learned Punjabi and arranged for a tooth mould from Canada to show his character’s tooth decay. He told Film Companion that he has always changed himself for the roles he plays and “tried to bring out different aspects” of himself. Hooda spoke about his upcoming projects which include Netflix’s Dhaka alongside Chris Hemsworth. It is directed by Sam Hargave, who has served as Chris Evans’ stunt double in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, fight and stunt coordinator in  Captain America: Civil War  as well as the second unit director for Avengers: Infinity War. He is also going to reunite with Mira Nair for BBC World’s adaptation of A Suitable Boy.  He is also part of Imitiaz Ali’s  yet-to-be-titled film , starring Sara Ali Khan and Kartik Aaryan.