Shershaah: Salman Khan Wanted Aayush Sharma To Make His Debut With This Biopic On Captain Vikram Batra

Yes, you heard that right! This revelation was made by Shershaah producer Shabbir Boxwala in his recent tete-a-tete with a leading tabloid. Boxwala revealed that Salman Khan had shown his interest in late Vikram Batra's biopic and wanted his brother-in-law and actor Aayush Sharma to make his Bollywood debut with this film.

However by then, Boxwala had already pitched Sidharth Malhotra's name to Captain Vikram Batra's family and the latter too, had seconded Boxwala's choice.

Shabbir Boxwala who shares a good equation with Salman told Mid-day, "Salman approached me at a stage when I was in talks with Junglee Pictures. He wanted Shershaah to be Aayush's [Sharma] debut film, and wanted to partner with me on it."

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He revealed that Captain Batra's family had 'unanimously seconded' on the idea of Sidharth Malhotra playing the Param Vir Chakra awardee by then, and a meeting between the actor and the family was already arranged.

"It would have been highly unethical to drop him for another actor. When Captain Batra's family gave me the rights, it was a big moment for me. They showed immense trust in me, and I didn't want to go wrong at any step. I explained [my predicament] to Salman, who was understanding. Aayush was sweet and sportingly said that playing a double role in his debut movie might be [a tall order]," Mid-day quoted Boxwala as saying.

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He further added, "From Junglee Pictures, the film went to Dharma Productions [in 2019]. It didn't take Karan [Johar] more than five minutes to say yes to the project. Director Dennis Lee came from Los Angeles to helm the film, but things didn't work out. Vishnu Varadhan [director] was suggested by my writer Sandeep Shrivastava."

Eventually, Aayush Sharma made his debut in Bollywood with Abhiraj Minawala's LoveYatri opposite Warina Hussain. His next is Mahesh Manjrekar's Antim: The Final Truth in which he will be sharing screen space with Salman Khan.