Karan Johar confirms Vikram Batra biopic

Karan Johar

Filmmaker Karan Johar on Thursday confirmed he is producing a biopic on Kargil war hero Vikram Batra, with actor Sidharth Malhotra playing the lead role. Sidharth, whose Bollywood career was launched by Karan with Student Of The Year, is excited about taking on the role as 'Sher Shah' Vikram Batra, whose story he finds inspirational.

"Vikram Batra's life story will inspire you and bring a smile on your face. I am really excited to play the character and the shoot commences this year," Sidharth said in a statement. The Kargil hero was posthumously awarded the Param Vir Chakra - India's highest war-time gallantry award. The film will be produced by Dharma Productions and Shabbir Boxwala and will be directed by Vishnu Varadhan from a story written by Sandeep Srivastava.

Karan tweeted that it was time to relive "Yeh Dil Mangey More" -- Batra's oft-quoted phrase. He described it as "the true story of bravery and patriotism - the chronicles of Kargil war hero Vikram Batra". "True stories are always the best stories to tell," Karan had tweeted before the announcement.