Randeep Hooda was working on a film inspired by the story of the Battle of Saragarhi, but it never made it to the silver screen. The actor was to play the role of Havildar Ishar Singh and underwent a massive transformation to look the part. Despite his dedication and hard work, the project wasn't completed.
In 2016, director Rajkumar Santoshi had announced his film on the Battle of Saragarhi and Randeep was going to play Havildar Ishar Singh, the role that was played by Akshay Kumar in Kesari earlier this year. Akshay announced his film in 2018 and within a year, it was out in the theatres.
In a recent interview with Film Companion, Randeep opened up about the film, saying that this character had him working the hardest ever. He had dedicated himself completely to the project. Randeep said he was silently "growing the Sikh in him". He grew out his beard and learnt Sikh martial arts. He had shared some of his bearded looks on Instagram.
"I already spent two-and-a-half years with a long beard and hair, and turned into a Sikh. The beard was up to my bellybutton. I didn't cut a single hair on my body for two-and-a-half years, like Sikhs do. I really attempted to live that character," he said in the interview.
"I really gave it my all till it came to a point where too much of my time was passing by and I came to realise that this film might never see fruition," he said, adding that the film was partially shot and then stalled. Randeep has now moved on to his next project with Netflix, called Dhaka, with Hollywood star Chris Hemsworth.
Randeep is known for losing himself in parts by putting himself through intense preparation and drastic physical transformations, as was seen in Sarbjit. The actor also admitted that his intensity of commitment to his project also once came in the way of him holding down a relationship.
"This character really gave me a lot, it made me a better person. It gave me wings as an actor and as a person. I discovered the beautiful things about Sikhism and I lost my vanity completely," said the 42-year-old actor, who is now practising minimalism, keeping his material accumulations as low as he can manage.
Randeep, who was last seen in Baaghi 2, recently wrapped up shooting for Imtiaz Ali's next film starring Sara Ali Khan and kartik Aaryan in the lead.
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