Arjun Kapoor set to play an intelligence officer in Raj Kumar Gupta’s next, which is inspired by another real life story
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 10, 2018)

After the success of his last release, Raid, featuring Ajay Devgn in the lead as Amey Patnaik, a no-nonsense income tax officer in ’80s Lucknow which had some real life muses, acclaimed filmmaker Raj Kumar Gupta is gearing up to roll with his next, an edge-of-the-seat thriller intriguingly titled Most Wanted. Mirror (March 14) had earlier reported that the film is inspired by a real-life secret mission that took place between 2012 and 2014 to capture one of India’s most wanted terrorists.

The film will be shot across Nepal and Delhi, among other places, in a start-to-finish schedule in the second half of the year. Prep for the Fox Star Studios production is presently underway and the makers are targeting a 2019 release.

After spending two years researching, writing and casting for the film, Raj Kumar, whose repertoire boasts of hits like Aamir and No One Killed Jessica, has finally zeroed in on his leading man. “A couple of weeks ago, Raj Kumar finalised Arjun Kapoor to play an intelligence officer and the hero of this do-or-die covert operation. The two have had a couple of narrations and long telephonic conversations about the project recently,” a source close to the development told Mirror, adding that the filmmaker is presently casting for other officers who will feature in the Intelligence Bureau and police force in the film.

The actor and the filmmaker have wanted to collaborate with each other for a while now. A few years ago, the duo had met to discuss the screen adaptation of the Chetan Bhagat bestseller Revolution 2020. Arjun had then admitted to Mirror (September 11, 2014) that he would be playing the protagonist Gopal in the film but had refused to divulge details, saying, “I’m a producer’s son, I’ll wait for the announcement.” However, the project never materialised and both Arjun and Raj Kumar moved to other films.

“But a few months ago, they met again to discuss what is undoubtedly the most ambitious film of both their careers,” the source added. “Arjun loved the script and Raj Kumar has demanded start-to-finish dates because he wants to shoot in one go without any distractions. Since Arjun has already committed to three yet-torelease films — Vipul Shah’s romcom Namaste England alongside Parineeti Chopra, Ashutosh Gowariker’s battle royal Panipat with Sanjay Dutt and the Hindi remake of the Telugu Blockbuster Arjun Reddy — he is working out his dates. They are both keen to take this story of a terrorist, who was eventually captured without a single shot being fired, to the world soon,” the source revealed.