A few Bollywood filmmakers are trying their hand at biopics undaunted by the failure of a series of films spotlighting the life and times of Indian freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

While Anil Kapoor is shooting a film on the troubled relationship between Mahatma Gandhi and his son Harilal (with Akshaye Khanna in the lead), Shyam Benegal has completed his ambitious project on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

Anil Kapoor's bio-pic, directed by stage director Feroz Khan, will focus more on Harilal than on Mahatma Gandhi.

But the biggest acid test would be Aamir Khan's portrayal of Mangal Pandey, the soldier who ignited the 1857 mutiny, in Ketan Mehta's biopic of the same name.

Television and theatre actor Sachin Khedeker, who plays Bose in Shyam Benegal's film, spent months preparing for his part and getting into the character.

"Preparedness is paramount in a film on the life of a historical figure. People will never forgive you for goofing up on the historical details," says Khedeker.

Mahatma Gandhi is trickier to play. After Ben Kingsley perfected the character in Richard Attenborough's "Gandhi", Naseeruddin Shah tackled the same part with warm-hearted relish in Kamal Haasan's "Hey Ram".

While the role of national figures in other films are played by actors chosen for their resemblance to the original character, in "Mangal Pandey" a star has been assigned the task of recreating an important chunk of Indian history through his screen presence.

Some years ago when Jabbar Patel made a film version of the life of Babasaheb Ambedkar, he cast Malayalam actor Mammootty in the title role. Shah Rukh Khan had been considered for the role. But he was dropped for practical reasons.

But Shah Rukh did get to play the role of the more than 2,000-year-old Mauryan emperor Asoka in Santosh Sivan's film of that name. Did the star's overpowering image of the cool dude stood in the way of his acceptance as a true-life icon from the past?

And Salman Khan is likely to play the Maratha king Bajirao in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's proposed epic.