Salman Khan begins shooting for 'Battle of Galwan', shares production still from Apoorva Lakhia film

Bollywood superstar Salman Khan shared a shooting still from his upcoming film 'Battle of Galwan', confirming shoot commencement for the film, which is based on the real story of an India-China conflict five years ago. The still shows the actor with a bruised face, seemingly playing a senior officer. It is directed by Apporva Lakhia.

In July, when Salman shared the first-look motion poster, it garnered more than 50 lakh views in just two hours, amid fears over the future of his career after the actor recently revealed the health problems he was suffering from—trigeminal neuralgia at one point, a brain aneurysm, and AV malformations.

The motion poster showed Bollywood's beloved “bhaijaan” at his fiercest yet, holding a large rod with barbed wire coiled around it; blood streaming down his face as he looks on heroically, as the patriotic music reaches a crescendo.

The film is said to be inspired from a real-life conflict that took place between India and China at the Galwan Valley, a remote, precipitous region of Ladakh located roughly 15,000 feet above sea-level. The clash, fought without a single bullet being fired—due to diplomatic agreements between the two nations at the time—still became one of the deadliest border conflicts in the history of the two nations.

Salman Khan is supposedly playing Colonel B. Santosh Babu, the commanding officer of the 16th Bihar Regiment, who had been martyred during a clash with the Chinese Army that only saw the use of hand-to-hand combat using rudimentary weapons like sticks and stones.

The film has Chitrangda Singh playing the female lead opposite the 'Bhajrangi Bhaijaan' actor.

Salman shared in a recent interview that the shoot will be physically demanding, considering the prep work, location and unpredictable weather conditions.