Based on the real-life of Sardar Udham Singh, a revolutionary freedom fighter, Amazon Prime Video’s Sardar Udham opened to great reviews from the audience. Directed by Shoojit Sircar, this biopic stars Vicky Kaushal as the protagonist.
However, there are certain facts about this movie that are quite surprising. Let’s see them, shall we?
1. While we all loved Vicky Kaushal’s acting in the movie, he wasn’t the first choice for the protagonist. That’s correct. According to a report, the first choice for the role was veteran actor Irrfan Khan. However, due to the late actor’s deteriorating health, the makers went ahead and cast Vicky Kaushal for the role.
2. Shoojit Sircar, who directed a number of masterpieces like Vicky Donor and Piku, marked his biopic debut with this movie. He has bagged 12 awards, including National Film Awards and numerous international awards, in total for his excellent work.
3. To make the protagonist’s look more realistic, a prosthetic artist was hired to achieve his spine-chilling look. Peter Gorshenin, a Russian-based prosthetic artist, made all bruises and cuts on Vicky Kaushal look extremely real.
4. Babil Khan, Irrfan Khan’s son, was supposed to make his acting debut with this movie. As per reports, he was being considered to play the younger version of Udham Singh. However, the makers of this movie cast him for a different project and had informed the audience about their collaboration through social media.
5. Shoojit Sircar, the director of the movie, was personally affected by his visit to Jallianwala Bagh over 20 years ago. After coming back from his visit, he started reading about the event through libraries, documents and from the survivors of the massacre. He said that he had waited 21 long years to make this movie.
6. While a professional prosthetics artist was hired for making Vicky Kaushal’s scars look more real, the scar that we saw on his face was real. Before the shoot began for this movie, the actor got injured while shooting another movie and got 13 stitches on his cheek.
7. Several movies use VFX to give an authentic vibe for an older era. However, all the sets in this movie were re-created to give a rustic feel from the colonial rule. Set from 1919 to 1940, the movie showcased the heart-wrenching massacre, vintage cars, soot-lined chimneys and coal trains just like the colonial era. No wonder that this movie was a visual masterpiece.
8. Ronnie Lahiri, the producer of this movie, happens to be a history buff who loves exploring the past of our nation. He, along with Shoojit Sircar, delved deep into the life of Sardar Udham Singh and conducted their own research as they both share similar interests. In an interview, Sircar said that he wanted to present his own take on how a freedom fighter should be presented and perceived through his story. He also mentioned that this movie is very, very subjective and personal. Now that we have seen the movie, we can surely say that their efforts were truly exceptional.