Standing in his living room in San Francisco, Adivi Sesh - the leading man of Major - movie based on the life of martyred NSG commando Sandeep Unnikrishnan, remembers looking at the TV screens and wondering for the very first time - “Who is this guy who looks like me?” That’s where his association with Sandeep’s story began.

Over the next 14 years, the South actor has collected every small or big article on the man he plays on screen. “I have a folder of paper clippings, every tidbit of information. I was always on his Orkut page. Amidst all the darkness, his story was one of hope. He saved so many people’s lives. It made me angry that people only knew of his last 48 hours. What about 31 years before that?”

100 hours of interviews with his parents, friends, colleagues, juniors, NDA classmates aided the making of this screenplay. “We spoke to everyone except his wife because of privacy reasons. Uncle and Amma were clear they didn’t want it. To protect her privacy, we changed her name in the film. The idea was to capture the story’s soul but not getting into precise details.”

As an actor, this was his passion project. A decade had passed in between to lend to the story the desired perspective. “I didn’t want to be caught up with the sensationalism. But the emotion behind it was precious. There is a funny story about his legendary photograph. He was apparently smiling big. The photographer told him that you can’t smile like that for a passport picture. So he was holding back his laughter. He is the opposite of what you expect of a military man - fun, cosmopolitan, sunshine, loved Arnold Schwarzenegger films, and liked Sufi music. We went ahead and constructed all of this in the first 35 minutes of the film. It shows who the man was. The first half might feel like Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na… We wanted to show all of this because in the second half when you see him fighting in Kargil, when you see him at Taj, you see more than a hero. You see the man who was one of us.”

Sesh doubles up as screenwriter on the project. For him, Major isn’t a movie. Having lived with the film for close to five years, he has found a family in Unnikrishnan’s parents. “Our motivation was to tell the story about this guy. 26/11 is a chapter in his life. Mumbai attacks is not the film. When we perceive a great man, we tend to think of him as someone who is instantly great. He is the boy next door who became great by doing things that were great.”

At a time when patriotic dramas have become brazenly jingoistic, the south actor says that Sashi Kiran Tikka’s directorial venture has avoided that route. “It was important to reflect Major Sandeep’s spirit. He is fiercely patriotic and not jingoistic. He won’t sit and talk about how much better India is vis-a-vis other countries. He will talk about how he wants to make India better.”

For Sesh, the film isn’t just another pan-India film. ‘It’s an all-India story of a guy - born in Kerala, who lived in Bangalore, posted in Bihar, training officer in Haryana, served in Kashmir, died in Mumbai.’ The star and the film’s producer decided to hold preview screenings of the project two weeks before the film’s release. “The same day we were supposed to be promoting the film at reality shows. They couldn’t give us a slot because some other film had claimed that slot. I was disappointed. In Telugu, we did every show possible. Major Sandeep is bigger than all of this. Like Uncle said on the day of the film's launch at The Taj Mahal Palace, Mumbai - ‘This building is standing because of my son.’ I had a realisation that not much can come from the audience seeing me on a dance show about how good the film is. Next day morning, we decided to keep 10 advance screenings for the public across India. The tickets were available on Book My Show and anyone could book. It was a huge risk, especially because of piracy or someone could drag the film down. We wanted people to see what we’ve done. Para special forces watched the movie, my Telugu fans watched it. The reaction that came from former army officers breaking down to 10 minute standing ovations from 200 army men, we realised this is a mass film of a different kind. This film is about hope. Major was financially safe a year ago, right now it’s about winning love."

Will he ever get over this character as an artiste? "I don't want to get over this. I can never be Sandeep for Amma and Uncle. But I hope to be their second son. This film has enriched me as a person. I want to live with everything I have learnt from Sandeep's life, as long as I live."

The late Sandeep Unnikrishnan