Sonali Joshi Pitale (MID-DAY; October 14, 2015)

Last month, hitlist had reported about a biopic being planned on Bengal rebel Khudiram Bose, who laid down his life for the country at 17. Now, we learn that a young theatre artiste will play the title role. Interestingly, the makers zeroed in on Kanishk Kumar Jain, 21, after stumbling on one of his social media accounts.

“Apart from doing theatre, I have worked in a Hindi film starring Rajpal Yadav and an unreleased international film. I had posted stills of my work on a social networking site. Dhiraj Mishra, who has written the script of the biopic, happened to see them and called me for the audition. After several rounds, I was selected for the role,” says Kanishk.

While Jain was chosen from among 1200- odd aspirants, he didn’t know what character he would play. Kanishk says, “I found out only recently that I have been signed for the lead role. It is going to be a bit of a task since there is barely any material available on him. My personality fits Khudiram’s, but I will have to do thorough research on him. We will be travelling to his native place in Bengal to learn more.”

The film is likely to go on floors next week.