The 22-year-old actress has bagged her second film after the Student of the Year sequel, a Hindi remake of the 2017 Telugu superhit Arjun Reddy
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 27, 2018)

Even before her Bollywood debut, Karan Johar’s Student of the Year 2, hits the screens on November 23, Tara Sutaria has bagged her second big-budget feature. The 22-year-old singer-actress will play Shahid Kapoor’s love interest in the yet-untitled Hindi remake of the 2017 Telugu superhit Arjun Reddy. While Shahid is stepping into the shoes of Vijay Deverakonda, who bagged the Filmfare Award for Best Actor earlier this month, Tara will play Shalini Pandey’s role from the original.

“The remake will be tailored for a more North Indian audience. The leading lady is an innocent and vulnerable character so the makers were keen to have a relatively new face. The casting has been underway since the last six months,” a source close to the development informs Mirror, adding that Sara Ali Khan and Janhvi Kapoor were also considered, but the team zeroed in on Tara in March.

Sandeep Vanga, who directed the original, will make his Bollywood debut with the remake. Producers Ashwin Varde and Murad Khetani have reportedly paid a whopping sum for the remake rights to what has become a cult film in Telangana. “The recce is nearing completion and the film is expected to roll in August,” the source adds.

Shahid, who is presently wrapping up Shree Narayan Singh’s Batti Gul Meter Chalu will go through a physical transformation for his journey from a college student to a grown man. He’ll be beefing up and will grow an untamed, facial fuzz.

An unconventional love story, the film follows Arjun, an alcoholic surgeon, who hits the self destruct button after his college sweetheart, Preethi, marries someone else. The film is also being remade in Tamil as Varma by Bala and actor Vikram’s son Dhruv making his debut.