Big B to play slum soccer founder Vijay Barse in Nagraj Manjule’s next

TIL Desk Bollywood/ After playing a Bal Thackeray doppelganger in Ram Gopal Varma’s Sarkar series, it is time for the indefatigable Amitabh Bachchan to play yet another real-life character in Sairat director Nagaraj Manjule’s new film – his first in Hindi.

In the film which is yet to get a title, Big B plays Vijay Barse who more than a decade ago, established the Nagpur based NGO Slum Soccers which helps slum kids find their bearings through the game of football.

Though he is more than happy to speak about his adulation for Bachchan, Manjule is reluctant to talk about the project he will start shooting with the megastar in October. “Let’s just say, it is based on a real-life character. But the way I’ve written the part and the film, it moves very far away from the original source,” he said.

Manjule has been writing his new Bachchan film for a good two years. “And before that I was researching on the subject. I don’t mind spending time on my script. I spent a good 8 years on the script of Sairat. I wrote it with only Bachchan Saab in mind. I’ve been his fan from childhood.