The actor’s new production, fronted by Sanjay Mishra, chronicles struggles of artistes forever relegated to supporting roles
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 31, 2020)

Amid intensifying chatter around his first acting gig after the December 2018 release, Zero —he is said to be in talks with filmmakers like Rajkumar Hirani, Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, Siddharth Anand and Atlee—Shah Rukh Khan has found his next film as a producer.

Mirror has learnt that, along with Manish Mundra, the 54-year-old actor has come on board for Kaamyaab, which features veteran character actor Sanjay Mishra in the lead. Deepak Dobriyal and Sarika Singh play pivotal roles in Hardik Mehta’s directorial debut. Hardik is also helming Dinesh Vijan’s Roohi Afzana this year, with Janhvi Kapoor in a double role. In 2013, he had won a National Award for his short film, Skin Deep.

According to a source close to the development, Sanjay plays an actor in the film. “The makers felt he was the best fit for the role as his career graph in Bollywood mirrors that of his character, who starts out as an extra and goes on to be acknowledged as an extraordinary actor,” revealed the source.

Kaamyaab has been making rounds of film festivals in India and abroad and has received acclaim at the Busan International Film Festival, New York City South Asian Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and Shanghai International Film Festival. The film’s storyline, which outlines the struggle of character artistes in Bollywood, something that hasn’t been attempted before, struck a chord with SRK, who decided to back it after watching it recently. The film also features several contemporary character actors and pays tribute to late veterans like Johnny Walker, Birbal, Manmauji and Viju Khote.