Entertainment Desk

The trailer of director Meghna Gulzar’s latest feature film “Sam Bahadur,” based on India’s first Field Marshal-level military officer Sam Manekshaw who was the chief of the army during the Bangladesh liberation war, was released on Tuesday.

The period film stars Vicky Kaushal as Sam Manekshaw, the charismatic war hero, and Fatima Sana Shaikh as former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Sanya Malhotra as Silloo, Sam's wife, Neeraj Kabi as India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub as Yahya Khan.

Vicky, who had last featured in Meghna Gulzar on the spy thriller “Raazi,” transforms into Sam Manekshaw, complete with his distinctive handlebar mustache, in the film.

On Monday, taking to Instagram, Vicky wrote along with a new poster, “This is the story about the man, who dedicated his life to the Indian Army, to the nation. Trailer out tomorrow!

In the poster, Vicky is seen wearing an Army uniform and walking near his soldiers, who are standing in a line. The trailer depicts Vicky Kaushal giving a tough-talk to Indian soldiers while resisting pressures from powerful political leaders, including Indira Gandhi.

The two-minute and thirty-eight-second trailer contains glimpses of Manekshaw’s illustrious four-decade-old military career, highlighting his relationship with former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and how they worked together to defeat Pakistan in the 1971 war leading to the birth of an independent Bangladesh.

The trailer created quite a buzz in the media with The Times of India pointing out how Vicky Kaushal “effortlessly slips” into the role of Manekshaw.

The victory over Pakistan in 1971 was undoubtedly the peak of Mankeshaw’s career and it is in the fitness of things that “Sam Bahadur will hit the screens on December 1, the start of “Bijoyer Maash” (Month of Victory over Pakistan) in both Bangladesh and India.