Sonil Dedhia (MID-DAY; October 7, 2017)

He may have gone missing from movies for a year-and-a-half, but Abhishek Bachchan is geared up for action in 2018 and is cherry-picking his projects. The actor has reportedly given his nod to two films — Shailesh Singh’s untitled next and Priyadarshan’s venture. While J P Dutta’s Paltan did not make the cut for Bachchan, who walked out of the war drama citing personal reasons, we hear a new production has caught his attention.

The actor is apparently teaming up with Shahid Kapoor for a social drama, tentatively titled Roshni. Produced by Prernaa Arora and helmed by Toilet - Ek Prem Katha director Shree Narayan Singh, the film revolves around electricity thefts in small towns of India.

A source working on the project reveals, “Abhishek was recently given a narration and was quite excited by the script. It is a story about two men — one is involved in electricity theft and the other starts a movement against the practice.”

While Kapoor has already been roped in to play the lawyer who revolts against the unfair practice, Bachchan is Singh’s first choice for the parallel lead. If the actor signs on the dotted line, it will mark his first collaboration with Kapoor. With Yuva (2004), Housefull franchise and Happy New Year (2014) amongst others behind him, Bachchan is no stranger to movies with ensemble cast. However, Kapoor, who is currently at the peak of his career, is said to be averse to two-hero films.

According to rumours, he signed Padmavati after he was assured that he’d enjoy as much screen time as co-star Ranveer Singh in the period drama. It will be interesting to see the dynamics between them. Katrina Kaif has been approached to play the female lead in the drama, which goes on floors next month.

When mid-day reached out to Arora, she said, “Abhishek is surely on our wish list, but nothing has been finalised yet. We’ve already signed Shahid, who is the main lead of the film.”

Bachchan remained unavailable for comment.