BOMBAY TIMES (July 22, 2017)

Vishal Bhardwaj, known for his love for Shakespearean drama and his penchant for out-of-the-box stories like Makdee (2002), The Blue Umbrella (2005), Kaminey (2009) and 7 Khoon Maaf (2011), has joined forces with KriArj Entertainment. He will produce Irrfan's second film with Deepika Padukone (after Piku), which will be helmed by debutant Honey Trehan. The script of the movie, based on Femme Fatale, a story in S Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai, is structured by Bhardwaj and Rohan Narula.

Apparently, Deepika was initially apprehensive about working with a first-time director. However, after reading the script, she gave it her go ahead and even allotted dates for the project, which commences after her upcoming period drama. The yet-to-be-titled film rolls early next year and Vishal aims to release it on October 2, 2018, since most of his films in recent years have opened on this date.

“Deepika had been persuading me to write the script and make a film on Femme Fatale. I'm happy that she loved the script and agreed to work with Honey on this,“ says Vishal, who has previously collaborated with Irrfan on a couple of projects. He adds, “Irrfan is an incredible actor. I'm looking forward to the two of them coming together in this film. Honey has been with me for than 15 years. I am sure he will add interesting nuances to the script.“

While Vishal is excited about his association with the production house and plans to team up with them on a couple of interesting projects, Virindrra Arora of KriArj Entertainment says, “Vishal is one of the most prominent filmmakers in India today .Working with him along with Deepika and Irrfan makes this a prestigious film for our audience and us. This will be among the most anticipated films next year.“