After wrapping up Bachchan Pandey, Akshay Kumar is all set to start shoot for his next, Ram Setu. And HT has exclusively learnt that the actor, along with director Abhishek Sharma and creative producer Dr Chandraprakash Dwivedi, will fly to Ayodhya on March 18 to give the mahurat shot of the film from Ram Janmabhoomi.

While Kumar is away for a family vacation in Maldives, the film’s director tells us that the shoot is spread across multiple schedules over the next few months and 80% of the film will be shot in Mumbai.

Sharma also reveals that the actor will be seen in a new avatar. “Akshay sir plays an archaeologist and his look and character is inspired by several Indian and international professional archaeologists who work in the field,” he says, adding that the leading ladies — Jacqueline Fernandez and Nushrratt Bharuccha — play “strong, independent women” and their looks are being kept under wraps for now.

Interestingly, it was Dwivedi who came up with the idea of starting the Ram Setu journey in Ayodhya. “I suggested to Akshay that we should launch the production schedule with blessings from the holy temple of Lord Ram,” he says.

For Sharma, the journey of Ram Setu started back in 2007 when he “first read newspaper coverage about a court case related to a project to build a shipping canal in the shallow straits between India and Sri Lanka” and he found that to be an opportunity “to explore the truth behind an Indian legend.”

Sharma thanks Dwivedi for guiding the team in the right direction with the research process. “The idea was to gain a comprehensive understanding on the subject and create a film on this true story,” he says.

Set to embark on this journey, producer Vikram Malhotra asserts there’ll be “strict safety protocols in place.” He adds, “Akshay as well as Abundantia Entertainment have completed several productions during the pandemic. There’s enough learning to manage with controlled Coronavirus risks.”

Kumar rounds it off by saying, “Ram Setu is a bridge between generations — past, present and future.”