EXCLUSIVE: Sidharth Malhotra’s Vikram Batra biopic gets delayed?

If reports are to be believed Sidharth Malhotra, who was last seen in Aiyaary, has begun prepping up for his next movie with Ekta Kapoor. He was initially supposed to begin shooting for Vikram Batra's biopic but it has been postponed.

By Urvi Parikh

Updated on Apr 20, 2018 | 04:03 PM IST | 427.5K

Sidharth Malhotra, who was last seen in Aiyaary, is currently prepping up for his next movie, to be produced by Ekta Kapoor. It is a love story which will be helmed by a debutante. Apart from that, Malhotra has also signed a biopic on the life of Kargil martyr Vikram Batra. The actor confirmed the movie during the promotions of Aiyaary and revealed that he will begin shooting for the same in June.

However, now we have learnt from a source that the biopic, titled Kargil: Sher Shah, has been pushed. Instead of prepping for this movie, Malhotra will first begin work on the Ekta Kapoor film. Informs a source, “Sidharth Malhotra is having a rough phase at the box office. While A Gentleman and Aiyaary tanked at the ticket window, Ittefaq just about managed decently. Hence getting into the shoes of a personality like Vikram Batra is a huge responsibility. For the same, the actor needs more time. Therefore the team has put the movie on hold and Malhotra instead will begin work on Ekta’s film soon.”

Adds another source, “Due to Sidharth’s last two movies’ business, no producer was ready to put in money. The actor later approached his mentor Karan Johar to come on board as a producer. Needless to say the Dharma head honcho has agreed, despite the questionable status over Malhotra’s bankabality at the box office.”

Interestingly, buzz in the market also suggests that the movie has been shelved. When quizzed on the same, the source stated, “With Dharma coming on board as the producer there is no need for the movie to get shelved. As of now, it is only delayed. Hopefully it should begin by the year end.”