Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 7, 2019)

Even before she makes her Bollywood debut opposite Amrish Puri’s grandson Vardhan with the romantic-thriller Yeh Saali Aashiqui, Shivaleeka Oberoi has bagged her second film. Mirror has learnt that the actress plays Vidyut Jammwal’s wife in the Faruk Kabir-directed action-romance, Khuda Hafiz, which revolves around the couple, and is produced by Kumar Mangat and Abhishek Pathak.

“I wanted to find my second project before my debut released, so two-and-a-half months ago, when I was auditioning for other films, I got a call for Khuda Hafiz. I auditioned and last month, I was informed that I had bagged the part. Shooting for my portions began in October-end. The film is based on a true story, and will be shot in Mumbai and Lucknow besides Uzbekistan,” says Shivaleeka, who has previously assisted Sajid Nadiadwala on the Salman Khan and Jacqueline Fernandezstarrer Kick and Sajid-Farhad on Housefull 3.

The actress, who had been shooting in Uzbekistan, returned to Mumbai on Monday for the trailer launch of her debut film and will report back to work after its release. “For Khuda Hafiz, I have already shot for 10 days in sub-zero temperature. My part is more girl-next-door, but I will also be doing some action with Vidyut, which involves a lot of hand-to-hand combat and has been choregraphed by Andy Long, who worked with Vidyut on Commando 3,” Shivaleeka informs, adding that Vidyut helped her with the sequences.

She goes on to add that between shots, she and Vidyut would talk about everything under the sun. “The cast and crew also celebrated Diwali together with a small party and a bonfire in Uzbekistan. This schedule will wrap up by the month-end. Then, we start shooting in Mumbai from December,” Shivaleeka signs off.