Diljit Dosanjh to star in biopic of former hockey captain Sandeep Singh, produced by Chitrangada Singh

Punjabi actor-singer Diljit Dosanjh has definitely made his mark in the Hindi film industry. His recent Bollywood releases — Udta Punjab (2016) for which he bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Debut and Anushka Sharma’s Phillauri (2017) — have made him a bankable star. Although his past releases have been multi-starrers, the actor is reportedly going to get his solo Hindi film soon.

According to a report by Mumbai Mirror, Dosanjh has been roped in to play hockey ace and India’s former captain, Sandeep Singh, in a biopic produced by Chitrangada Singh.

Sandeep Singh played as a full back and was a penalty corner specialist in the Indian Hockey team. He made headlines when he made a comeback into the game after being injured in an accident. In 2006, he got hit by an accidental gunshot while travelling on the Shatabdi Express to join the national team that was to fly to Germany for the World Cup. The 31-year-old hockey player is currently employed with the Haryana Police as deputy superintendent, Mumbai Mirror reports.

Chitrangada had acquired the rights to the story nearly three years ago. But the film took time to actualise, as the hunt for the right actor was still on. There were speculations that Sandeep himself wanted Ranbir Kapoor to essay him in his biopic as he was highly impressed by the actor’s performance as a Sikh in Rocket Singh (2009), but the idea was dropped.

It was only after Chitrangada teamed up with Sneha Rajani of Sony TV that the idea of the film shaped up and progress was made. According to the same report, Shaad Ali (director of Saathiya, Bunty aur Babli and Ok Jaanu) will be directing the film. The creative heads unanimously agreed that Dosanjh would fit the role to a T.

No other details pertaining to the film has come out yet, nor has their been any official confirmation regarding the final cast.