Actor Sidharth Malhotra's latest film, "Shershaah," is released three days before India celebrates its Independence Day.
Malhotra's portrayal of Indian army legend Vikram Batra in the film will likely stir up national pride as people remember his heroic endeavors in Amazon Prime's all-action war film.
Exploring Batra's involvement in the 1999 Kargil War in Kashmir between India and Pakistan - a conflict in which Batra was killed in combat - the film follows the life of the army officer, who was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - India's highest and most prestigious award for valor.
Malhotra, who was a teenager at the time of the war, recalls seeing Batra on television and describes the bizarre opportunity of getting to play him - and his identical twin brother Vishal - on screen.
"I have a faint memory of him saying 'Yeh Dil Maange More!' which is a line in the film that we used. And it's a very surreal experience to now see after many years it was so far fetched for me to A - become an actor, and then B - portray his dialogues in life on screen, which I saw as a teenager."
In playing Batra, the actor follows in the footsteps of Abhishek Bachchan, who portrayed the Indian solider in 2003's "L.O.C. Kargil." However, the thought of matching the performance of Bachchan didn't worry Malhotra, who was more concerned about what Batra's family thought of his work.
"I know his twin brother really well by now and I've met them over the years and I know them very closely. So, I think that's what I'm most anxious and concerned about, that I feel that the family should feel that we've done justice to their son's story."
When quizzed about what Batra's brother Vishal thought of his portrayal, Malhotra said that he was told, "'After seeing the film, for me, whenever I try to imagine him in the army, I only see your face.' So, it was a very surreal and very emotional feeling, but I thought it was really special."
"Shershaah" (which translates as "Lion King" - the codename for Batra during the war) will be released on Amazon Prime Video on August 12 across 240 countries and territories.
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