Actress has given her nod to the Vikas Bahl directorial, makers in advanced talks with Amitabh Bachchan
Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 23, 2020)

After wrapping up Rohit Shetty’s cop-drama, Sooryavanshi, Katrina Kaif’s next is a slice-of-life comedy. It will be directed by Vikas Bahl, who last year helmed Super 30, the biopic on math-whiz Anand Kumar with Hrithik Roshan in the lead.

“The film is tentatively titled Deadly as the story is centred around a funeral. Katrina loved the basic premise, which essentially traces the protagonist’s journey of self-discovery with humourous undertones, and gave an instant go-ahead to Vikas,” revealed a source close to the development.

The film is expected to go on the floors soon. “It was supposed to kick off in May, but following the Coronavirus scare across the world, the makers are waiting for things to settle down before heading for a recce,” informed the source, adding that the actress is expected to go through several rounds of readings to understand the intricacies of her multi-layered character. “She is looking to push the envelope and explore new genres in this phase of her career which, in a way, is a journey of self- discovery too.”

Apart from the funeral, the relationship between father and daughter is integral to the narrative. “Vikas and Katrina have discussed the central character of the father with Amitabh Bachchan who has shown a keen interest in doing the film. However, he is yet to sign on the dotted line,” added the source, saying the trio met several times in February and the formalities were to be closed by March. “But there’s a delay in both production and casting given the virtual shutdown of the film industry at the moment.”

After Deadly, Katrina is expected to jump onto a supernatural comedy, also featuring Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi, reportedly titled PhoneBhoot. This will be followed up by the third instalment of the Tiger franchise with Salman Khan. She also has Bollywood’s maiden female-centric superhero film, which will be directed by filmmaker-friend, Ali Abbas Zafar.