Bollywood actress Fatima Sana Shaikh, who started her career with Aamir Khan’s Dangal is all set to essay the role of the first female Prime Minister of India Indira Gandhi in Vicky Kaushal led ‘Sam Bahadur’, the biopic of Field Marshal Sam Manekshaw.
Vicky Kaushal shared the update about the film on Instagram on director Meghna Gulzar’s birthday. He wrote: “It’s a very special day for us as we celebrate our director @meghnagulzar’s birthday and welcome the leading ladies @sanyamalhotra_ as Silloo Manekshaw and @fatimasanashaikh as Smt. Indira Gandhi to the Sam Bahadur family!” Sanya even commented to the post, “Can’t wait.”
Besides, the movie will also feature Fatima Sana Shaikh’s Dangal co-star Sanya Malhotra who would be portraying the role of Silloo Manekshaw, wife of the former CAOS who led India’s heroic triumph in the 1971 India-Pakistan war that liberated Bangladesh from Pakistan.
Director Meghna Gulzar said the team is excited to have Sanya and Fatima on board. “There is pride in the commemoration of 50 years of the historic win of our forces in the 1971 War. And it’s very exciting to have Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh join the team of Sam Bahadur. Both their roles in the film require a great deal of sensitivity, dignity and composure and I’m looking forward to the ladies bringing these characters to life,” the director said in a statement.
Indira Gandhi’s character had previously been portrayed by actresses such as Lara Dutta, Suchitra Sen, and Supriya Vinod, among others, in a number of Bollywood films.
“A woman who defines courage, power and dignity! It’s with great pride that I am joining the team of #Samबहादुर to depict the role of India’s first female Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi!”, the actress wrote in her Instagram post.
Speaking about the role, Fatima also said: “I’m very happy to join the Sam Bahadur’s family and take on the challenge of essaying the role of one of the most influential and talked about women in Indian history. What intrigued and excited me the most was the passion with which the makers hope to honour his memory and legacy through this film.”
Fatima Sana Shaikh, Aamir Khan relationship rumours go viral
Interestingly, Fatima Sana Shaikh is the same actress who hogged a lot of limelight after the rumours of a romance between her and Aamir Khan started doing the rounds in 2016. The duo was spotted together several times, walking hand in hand.
After the success of the sports drama ‘Dangal’, in which Fatima Sana adorned the role of Aamir Khan’s daughter, the actress signed ‘Thugs of Hindostan’ with Aamir Khan. This led to further speculation that the duo is dating each other.
Recently, when Aamir and Kiran Rao, who have been together for 15 years, announced their divorce, many netizens were quick to connect Fatima Sana Shaikh and Aamir Khan’s old link-up rumours with the announcement and felt that it was the real reason behind the couple’s separation.
It was widely reported then that Kiran Rao was furious after being informed about the rumoured affair between Aamir Khan and Fathima Sana Sheikh. There are also rumours that Fatima was the one who created a wedge between Aamir and his wife, Kiran Rao.
The news of Aamir Khan’s second divorce led to further speculation that Fatima Sana Shaikh and Aamir Khan will get married post the release of the film Lal Singh Chaddha.
In fact, a publication- Gyan TV, reported that the actor intends to announce his marriage after the release of his and Kareena Kapoor Khan’s film, Laal Singh Chaddha, as he doesn’t want to interfere with the film’s limelight.
The rumours of Aamir planning to announce his wedding grabbed the attention of several netizens, who brutally trolled the actor for marrying his ‘daughter’, as Fatima Sana Shaikh had portrayed the role of Aamir Khan’s daughter in the film Dangal. Netizens invoked Aamir Khan’s Muslim identity to further castigate him for marrying for the third time.
Fatima had then addressed these rumours saying: “Earlier, I used to get affected. I’d feel bad. Because I’ve never dealt with anything of this sort at such a big level. A bunch of strangers, whom I’ve never met, are writing things about me. They don’t even know if there’s any truth to it. People reading it assume that I’m ‘not a good person’. You feel like telling that person, ‘Ask me, I’ll give you an answer’. It disturbs me because I don’t want people to assume wrong things. But I’ve learnt to ignore it. Yet, there are some days when I do get affected.”