 "Randeep Hooda or Ajay Devgn: Whose Battle of Saragarhi will win at the box office?")
The Battle of Saragarhi, which until now was resigned to the books of history, is now the subject of not one, but two Bollywood films being made on the event — at the same time. While Ajay Devgn is making Sons of Sardaar: The Battle of Saragarhi, director Rajkumar Santoshi will be releasing Battle of Saragarhi, which stars Randeep Hooda. The films are based on the Battle of Saragarhi, that took place in 1897 between British Indian Army and Afghan Orakzai tribesmen in the North-West Frontier Province. Randeep Hooda, who will be seen playing the role of Havildar Ishar Singh, the military commander of the 36th Sikhs in Santoshi’s film, has shared his first look on Twitter.
#RandeepGoesToWar as #HavaldarIsharSingh! #BattleOfSaragirhi #1897 pic.twitter.com/0VdDSjMZNb
— Randeep Hooda (@RandeepHooda) August 1, 2016
The producers of the film, Wave Cinemas have signed him for a three film deal and Battle of Saragarhi will be the first of them. Speaking to Mumbai Mirror, CEO, Wave Cinemas, Rahul Mittra, said, “For the next month-and-a-half, Randeep will be studying Sikh history under a guru, learning sword fighting and shooting with vintage rifles. He is already a master of horse riding and has been visiting the stables more often in the last few weeks. He has the body language of a warrior and he will be beefing up to resemble Ishar Singh. He has already started growing out his hair and beard.” Santoshi has delayed working on a comedy film with Salman Khan and will begin the shoot of the period-action drama on 12 September instead, at the Saragarhi Gurudwara in Amritsar. Incidentally, Ajay Devgn has faced a similar issue with a historical film years ago as well. In 2002, when he was to star in The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Bobby Deol was also featuring in a film with the same subject, called 23rd March 1931: Shaheed. At the time, Ajay’s film was directed by Rajkumar Santoshi, which gives the Battle of Saragarhi clash an ironic twist.
Unveiling @SonsOfSardaar My tribute to Warriors of Saragarhi: A tale of Rage, of Love, of Bravery. #SonsOfSardaar pic.twitter.com/kjI44uCvzI
— Ajay Devgn (@ajaydevgn) July 29, 2016
Whether it is Ajay or Randeep who score the most box office points with Battle of Saragarhi now remains to be seen.
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