Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 25, 2014)

After making a film within a film, Nautanki Saala, Rohan Sippy has now started working on a superhero project.The details are being kept strictly under wraps.

 However, Mirror has learnt that Sippy has bought the film rights of Turbulence, a novel by Samit Basu. The story is set in the future and revolves around a bunch of people who en route from London to Delhi suddenly discover that they have supernatural powers. Basu is collaborating with the filmmaker on the screenplay.

 Revealed a source, “Rohan was bowled over by the plot and he beat top Hollywood studios to the rights.”

 Basu confirmed the news saying, “Yes, the Sippys will be making the film which is targetting a 2015 release. A lot of time will go into the prep and post production too as it is an action and VFX-heavy film.”

 Interestingly, the book’s central characters are called Jai and Veer. Ramesh Sippy's top grosser, Sholay’s much-loved jodi played by Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra were called Jai and Veeru. Point this out and Basu calls it a “mighty coincidence”.

 He admits that Hollywood A-listers had evinced keen interest in his novel. “But they wanted me to change the characters into white people. Apparently, a Hollywood film can’t have a superhero film with a brown guy in the lead!” he laughed, adding that the book did really well in the US and there’s a sequel coming up soon. “But I was positive that I wanted the film to be made by an Indian.”

 Sippy admitted that it is a theme he hasn’t attempted before and the film will be mounted on a lavish scale. “The minute I finished Samit’s book, I knew I had to bring it on celluloid. We’re working on the script and will finalise the cast soon.”