The glowing reviews of Shershaah are perhaps the perfect culmination of Sidharth Malhotra’s five-year journey with the film. The actor, after all, has been attached to the project ever since producer Shabbir Boxwala, in 2016, acquired the rights to bring the late Captain Vikram Batra’s story on screen. Given the rousing nature of the story, it is not surprising when the producer reveals that several actors, including Salman Khan, had expressed interest in the biopic.

Boxwala, whose friendship with Khan goes back a long way, recounts, “Salman approached me at a stage when I was in talks with Junglee Pictures. He wanted Shershaah to be Aayush’s [Sharma] debut film, and wanted to partner with me on it.”