Mirror (September 19) had earlier reported that Angad Bedi will play Arjuna Awardee Sandeep Singh’s elder brother, Bikramjeet Singh, a field hockey player himself, in Shaad Ali’s next film. Inspired by the real events from the life of India’s former hockey captain, the film features Diljit Dosanjh in the titular role with Taapsee Pannu as his love interest.

Angad started his prep for Shaad’s film soon after his return from Abu Dhabi, where he was filming a Salman Khan, Katrina Kaif-starrer Christmas release Tiger Zinda Hai. He’s been training for almost two weeks now, a two-hour gym workout followed by three hours on the field with Sandeep. “Hockey is a tough sport and Angad is giving it his all. Bikramjeet himself will jump into the field soon to train Angad in his style of playing. For now, Sandeep is making him go through the drill of professional hockey, teaching him how to dribble and other techniques while sharing anecdotes about him and his brother,” informs a source.

The biopic reunites Angad and Taapsee after Shoojit Sircar’s National Award-winning film, Pink. It also reunited Shaad with his mentor Gulzar, who has penned the lyrics for all his five directorials, from Saathiya to OK Jaanu. “An important part of the narrative revolves around the two brothers with the elder one making Sandeep realise what hockey really means to him. Bikramjeet trained him in the early years,” a source had earlier told Mirror. Angad will begin readings with Diljit and Taapsee soon and is expected to start shooting by the month-end.