Mumbai, Nov 18 (IANS): Acclaimed actor Pankaj Tripathi will be starring in the biopic of India's former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

Pankaj said in a statement: "It's my honour to portray such a humane politician on screen. He was not just a politician but so much more, he was an excellent writer and a renowned poet. Getting to be in his shoes is nothing but a privilege for an actor like me."

The film will be helmed by three times National Award winner Ravi Jadhav, one of the renowned directors of the Marathi film Industry and written by Utkarsh Naithani, according to a statement issued by the makers.

'Main Rahoon Ya Na Rahoon Yeh Desh Rehna Chahiye- ATAL' revolves around the journey of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, a leader of India and one of the co-founders and a senior leader of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP).

National Award Winner Director Ravi Jadhav mentioned: "For me as a director, I couldn't have asked for any better story than that of Atalji. On top of this, having an exemplary actor like Pankaj Tripathi to bring to screen Atalji's story and the support of the producers. I hope that I can live up to people's expectations with ATAL."

Producer Vinod Bhanushali shared: "Unanimously, we all had imagined Pankaj Tripathi playing Atalji since we began discussing the film. We are delighted to have one of India's finest actors playing the part."

Producer Sandeep Singh added: "India is soon going to celebrate the life of Atal Ji and his political ideologies. We have a powerful duo of Pankaj ji and Ravi ji to bring the story to life. We aim to release this film on Christmas 2023, which also marks the 99th birth anniversary of Bharat Rana Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ji."

'Atal', presented by Bhanushali Studios Limited and Legend Studios, is produced by Vinod Bhanushali, Sandeep Singh, Sam Khan & Kamlesh Bhanushali in association of 70MM Talkies and co-produced by Zeeshan Ahmad & Shivv Sharma.