Stating this while talking to Chandigarh Newsline here today, Dhillon said Raj Babbar, Gurdas Mann and Shatrughan Sinha were among those who had decided not to accept any payment for their roles in this film. Melody king Gurdas Mann had also rendered a song in this film free of cost, while noted ghazal singer Jagjit Singh had sung a `shabad' and a `heer' for the film but refused to accept any money for it.

Sharing his experiences with CN, an excited Dhillon said this was a token of the reverence the artistes had for the great freedom fighter. Besides the artistes, several technicians have also offered their services free of cost.

He said Raj Babbar, whom he regarded as a great actor, had been the inspiration for him to make this film which is expected to cost about Rs 2 crore and will be completed by June-end. Raj Babbar had broached the idea of making a film on the life of Shaheed Udham Singh and he had lapped it up gladly saying this was a tribute to a great nationalist.

The film was formally launched at Sunam on December 26 but its regular shooting commenced only on March 7. Different sequences are scheduled to be shot in Patiala in the coming week and more artistes, including Tom Alter and Farha are expected to join the unit soon.

Dhillon said the film was based on a strong script penned by Sikandar Singh who had done a research on the life of Udham Singh for over a decade and had come out with a number of little known facts on him. He said he had also been to England and met a number of families with whom Udham Singh had stayed in that country and they had also provided him with valuable information.

The film was being made in Hindi and it would be dubbed in English too. The music for the film was being recorded in England and it was being composed by Sukhjinder Chhinda. The film is being directed by Chatrath Singh, of Chann Pardesi fame, while Surjit Pattar had penned the dialogues and the screenplay is by Atul Tiwari. Other actors include Ranjit, Amrish Puri, Kavita Kamal and Darshan Aulakh.

The film is being shot for the last two days in the local Central Jail where meetings of Udham Singh and Bhagat Singh in Mianwali jail are being depicted.

Raj Babbar said the jail authorities had accorded permission to the unit to organise a small function in the jail to mark the martyrdom day of Shaheed Bhagat Singh on March 23.