Aamir gears up for 'Mangal Pandey'

In 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising', Aamir and his revolutionaries would still be challenging the British but not on the cricket pitch.

Actor Aamir Khan is back again with a period flick, the adversaries remain the same but this time there's no cricket involved. In Ketan Mehta's 'Mangal Pandey - The Rising', Aamir and his band of revolutionaries would still be challenging the British but not on the cricket pitch.

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The film, set in Barrackpore against the backdrop of the first War of Indian Independence in 1857, may find it difficult to replicate the Oscar glory of 'Lagaan' but Aamir is keeping his fingers crossed.

"I haven't thought about the Oscars yet. I just want to entertain people. All I know is that when people see this film, they'll know the man behind Mangal Pandey, the starting point of our freedom struggle," says Aamir.

"It was difficult because very little is known about Pandey. Even so, all the events in the film are based on historical facts," he says. "I even wanted to visit Barrackpore but it didn't work out. However, Ketan and production designer Nitin Desai did go there for research."

The two-and-half-hour long film, made simultaneously in Hindi and English, will be premiering as the opening film at the Locarno film festival in Switzerland on August 3 and will hit theatres worldwide on August 12.

Produced by Bobby Bedi and Deepa Sahi, 'Mangal Pandey' boasts of an ensemble cast - Aamir, Rani Mukherji, Amisha Patel, Toby Stephens and Kirron Kher.