Akash Bhatnagar (MUMBAI MIRROR; January 21, 2020)

Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda made an instant impact as the leading man of Sandeep Reddy Vanga’s 2017 directorial, Arjun Reddy, which was adapted last year in Hindi as Kabir Singh. With Shahid Kapoor stepping into his shoes, the film was one of the year’s biggest hits and made Vijay a household name. A month later, Karan Johar shared a picture with him and announced that he had acquired the Hindi remake rights of the South actor’s Dear Comrade, opening in theatres three days later. This fanned speculations that he would launch Vijay in Bollywood with the Hindi remake.

On Monday, KJo finally announced that a film directed and produced by Puri Jagannadh has gone on the floors with the actor as the lead and him as a presenter and production partner. The film also features Baahubali actress Ramya Krishnan and Ronit Roy.

Last September, Vijay and Karan were snapped outside Manish Malhotra’s residence along with Kiara Advani, the female lead of Kabir Singh. Two months later, the actor was present at the filmmaker’s house party for American pop star Katy Perry during her India visit. Soon after, Vijay had announced at the International Film Festival of India in Goa that he will be making his Bollywood debut, preferably with an action or romance film. More recently, he flew into Mumbai for a look test.

Speaking to Mirror, Ronit revealed that the project which has just rolled is titled Fighter. “It is a pan-India action film that will feature a lot of mixed martial arts and will be shot extensively in the next six months,” the actor informed, adding that besides Mumbai, they will also be shooting in some foreign locations and the movie will be released in all the South languages.

Vijay, whose character stutters and sports a six-pack, underwent rigorous training and followed a strict diet as part of his prep. He also flew to Thailand to learn mixed martial arts and other fight forms.