By: Mohnish Singh
Shashank Khaitan, a Whistling Woods International graduate, made his directorial debut with Dharma Productions’ Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania (2014), starring Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt. The rom-com went on to do commercially well at the box office.
In 2017, Khaitan returned with its sequel titled Badrinath Ki Dulhania, which also set the cash registers jingling at the ticket window. After Badrinath Ki Dulhania, his next was Dhadak (2018), which provided a launchpad to iconic Indian actress Sridevi and filmmaker Boney Kapoor’s elder daughter Janhvi Kapoor who paired opposite Ishaan Khatter. The romantic film was a box-office hit.
Khaitan is next working on Mr Lele, a film that has gone through several casting changes ever since its official announcement in early 2020. After Mr Lele, the director was expected to move on to helm an out-and-out action film titled Yoddha.
However, just like Mr Lele, Yoddha has also suffered several setbacks over the past one year. The film was supposed to star Shahid Kapoor in the lead role. However, the Kabir Singh (2019) actor walked out of the project earlier this year, leaving Khaitan in the lurch.
Kapoor was supposed to start working on the actioner after wrapping up his upcoming sports drama film Jersey, but he opted out of it to be part of Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s streaming show to make his digital debut.
But from what we hear, Khaitan has yet not lost hope on Yoddha. The filmmaker, who is known for making romantic comedies, wants to break his image with Yoddha, which is a high octane, lavishly mounted action film set to be shot across several international locations. He wants to revive the project with Shahid Kapoor once the coronavirus situation in India and abroad gets a little better.
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