Vicky Kaushal to play Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in Meghna Gulzar's upcoming biographical drama

Vicky Kaushal has been roped in to play Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw in his biographical drama, which will be directed by Meghna Gulzar. This is their second collaboration after the critically acclaimed espionage drama, Raazi.  It was earlier reported that Ranveer Singh would likely play the part.  In an interview to Mumbai Mirror, Meghna revealed that Vicky gave his nod to the movie even before reading the script. However, he eventually did read the script at the director’s insistence, and loved it. [caption id=“attachment_6889041” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  Vicky Kaushal as Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw. Twitter/@Rahulrautwrites[/caption] Talking about the film, Meghna asserted that the film will not be a biopic but a narrative that highlights the “most crucial, iconic and relevant incidents of his life” that will give an insight into the soldier, the man, and the Field Marshal that Manekshaw was. However, the film will go on floors only in 2021, since it requires exhaustive research on the Partition, accession of Kashmir and the 1971 Indo-Pak war, Meghna adds. Vicky also spoke to the publication about his upcoming role. He says that he first learnt about the Manekshaw in the context of the Indo-Pak war. “I personally couldn’t witness his achievements, but my parents would always tell me that he was a fearless patriot with an amazing leadership quality. The first time I’d heard of him was in the context of the 1971 Indo-Pak war,” he told Mirror. He added he will interact with people who knew Manekshaw closely, read up on him and watch his videos to prepare for the role. The script will be penned by Bhavani Iyer (of Raazi fame) and _Badhaai Ho_ screenwriter Shantanu Srivastava . The project is being backed by Ronnie Screwvala, and marks his reunion with Vicky after their blockbuster film, Uri: The Surgical Strike . Meghna recently wrapped up the shooting of _Chhapaak_ , starring Deepika Padukone and Vikrant Massey. Currently in post-production, the film is slated to hit theatres on 10 January 2020.