Meghna Gulzar: Vicky was waiting for me to approach him for Sam Bahadur

Vicky Kaushal had a fabulous year at the cinemas last year as he dug deep into the charismatic character of Sam Manekshaw for his role in Sam Bahadur. The film was an ode to that chapter of history where Sam Manekshaw played the chief of the army staff of India and earned significant milestones professionally along the way.

Directed by Meghna Gulzar, Sam Bahadur can today be called one of the best war films of 2023 as it delved into the remarkable life of Sam Manekshaw and India of that time under the leadership of Indira Gandhi.

With Sam Bahadur finally streaming on OTT on ZEE5 and its recent success at the 69th Filmfare Awards, Meghna Gulzar revealed she always had Vicky in mind while casting for Sam Bahadur.

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Meghna Gulzar on casting Vicky Kaushal as Sam Manekshaw

Meghna Gulzar told WION about the process behind the creation of Sam Bahadur. She recalled that she first spoke of Sam Manekshaw to Vicky while they were working on Raazi. In Raazi, Meghna worked with Vicky Kaushal and Alia Bhatt.

She said, "Interestingly when I was telling Vicky about Sam Manekshaw during the making of Raazi, I did not see him in that role because I did not have the script. We were in the research stages, and I was just talking about the man because I find Sam Manekshaw extremely inspiring and fascinating as a human being, and I am in complete awe of him. So, that interaction was only so much with Vicky Kaushal.”

“Only after I had my script in place did I reach out to him. As soon as I told him to come and meet me and this is the story, would you like to do it? Vicky said, 'I was waiting for this…..when are you going to ask?' It just feels like we were all destined to come together and do this film,” she continued.

Sam Bahadur features an ensemble cast including Fatima Sana Shaikh, Sanya Malhotra, Mohd. Zeeshan Ayyub, and others. It is currently streaming on ZEE5.