India, Jan. 25 -- Sam Bahadur, which reunited director Meghna Gulzar and actor Vicky Kaushal after Raazi, opened to strong word of mouth as it released on December 1. The biopic on India's first Field Marshal, Sam Manekshaw, covering four decades of his fascinating story, was not an easy task to envisage on screen. (Also read: Vicky Kaushal thought he was 'not handsome enough' to play Sam Manekshaw in Sam Bahadur)

In this exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, director Meghna Gulzar went into detail about researching Sam Manekshaw's life, making sure all the details felt authentic in the narrative, and why it's the story that matters the most to her as a filmmaker. Sam Bahadur will stream on ZEE5 from January 26.

Interestingly, when ...