Aamir Khan is currently sitting pretty with the success of Nitesh Tiwari’s Dangal. The film has become the biggest Hindi blockbuster by earning close to Rs400 crore. It was a real-life story of wrestler Mahavir Singh Phogat.
The actor is now ready to take up yet another challenge of playing a real character. There are reports about Khan being all set to play the real-life Indian Air Force pilot, Rakesh Sharma in his biopic. This will be the third biopic for Khan after Mangal Pandey – The Rising (2005) and Dangal (2016).
Reports also suggest that the film will be produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur under his newly-found banner, Roy Kapur Films, and Khan. The film is expected to release in 2018. Khan is currently shooting Vijay Krishna Acharya’s Thugs Of Hindostan, along with Amitabh Bachchan. He will also be seen playing a cameo in Advait Chandan’s Secret Superstar.
The responsibility of the direction is given to Mahesh Mathai. He was the man behind the critically-acclaimed Bhopal Express (1999), which was based on the infamous Bhopal Gas Tragedy of 1984. Surprisingly, following this, he has only made the international film, Broken Thread (2007).
There is no confirmation as of now about the title, although there is a buzz that the film is titled, Salute.
Pilot Sharma was born in 1949. He flew the Soyuz T-11 on 2 April 1984 for the Intercosmos program. He became the first Indian to travel in space. When Indira Gandhi, the then Prime Minister, asked him how India looked from space, he said, “Sare Jahan Se Achchha Hindustan Humara.”