Filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala and Meghna Gulzar come together for Manekshaw

4 Jun 2018

Ace filmmaker Ronnie Screwvala and Meghna Gulzar have come together to tell us the story ofField MarshalSam Manekshaw who was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. Meghna Gulzar is now set to direct her next, the biopic on Sam Manekshaw, the first Indian Army officer to be promoted to the rank of Field Marshal. He was the Chief of the Army Staff of the Indian Army during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 and his military career spanned four decades and five wars. When asked Meghna about this, she said,Its bitter-sweet, moving from one film to the next, but its always a pleasure to tell a story that has grabbed your attention instinctively. The life that the Field Martial has lived is vast and rich so its quite daunting to be able to do justice to it in two hours on celluloid. Ronnie approached me sometime in 2015 saying that he wanted to work with me and I felt flattered because I look up to his work. We didnt even have a subject back them but overconversationsthe idea of a film on Sam Manekshaw came up. Ileaptat the idea, Prod her on the prep for her upcoming directorial and the filmmaker informs, We are currently in the early stages of writing while research has been on for a year because its an exhaustive subject. I only startedinternalisingthe material when Raazi was going intopost production. The film requires tremendous prep. One part of the film will be set in the era of the 71 war which is fairly familiar for me right now ( Raazi was set in the 1970s as well) butotherwiseits a whole new world. Next up, Meghna will be meeting Manekshaws daughter and grandchildren in the next couple of months. Im also happy to be teaming up with my Raazi cowriter Bhavani Iyer again along with another bright new writer, Shantanu Srivastava, she adds. Producer Ronnie Screwvala is equally excited about the film. I have always felt that India lacks role models. When it came to Sam Manekshaw, its a story that must be told and its not only about him being Indias first and only field marshal or being at the forefront of the wars we fought against Pakistan, but also about it being an inspirational story. I am also related to the Manekshaws from my wifes (Zarina Mehta) side. Meghna and I were talking about how I loved what she did with Talvar when we got Sam Manekshaws story on the table. It took her a few seconds to say that it is what she would like to do after Raazi , Ronnie says. Speaking about his plans for the project, the filmmaker adds, In the next three months, we should have our script ready. The movie needs at least six months of prep. When we go on the floors also depends on the lead actors and their dates. The character obviously ages through a certain time and he is as smart and disciplined as he is mischievous. Charm is also an important aspect to factor in as Manekshaw always had time for a joke no matter how busy he was. We haveMrManekshaws family on board along with his then first and second assistants in the Army, besides a lot of compatriots and colleagues to ensure the story remains authentic. Ronnie Screwvala is tapping into various platforms to give the audience varied content on their adaptable viewing platform. Also Read: REVEALED: Ronnie Screwvala and Siddharth Roy Kapur reunite for Pihu and here are the details