Since May, Siddharth Anand’s yet-untitled production has piqued curiosity among fans, and for good reason. To begin with, it’s a heist thriller, a genre that’s not frequently seen in Hindi cinema. More importantly, it sees two powerful actors, Saif Ali Khan and Jaideep Ahlawat, pitted against each other. Khan, one of the early birds in Indian digital entertainment with Sacred Games, will return to Netflix with the Robbie Grewal-directed venture. The director is naturally gung-ho about the project, and hopes to take it on floors early next year.

“The idea from the word go was to get two powerhouse performers who are pitted against each other in the film. It’s a true blue heist film, and a caper story when told well is bound to garner interest,” says Grewal.

While Khan has previously worked with Anand on Salaam Namaste (2005) and Ta Ra Rum Pum (2007), this is his first collaboration with Grewal. The director, who last helmed Adhura Sach, tells us that the protagonist’s role was written keeping Khan in mind.

“Saif is such a cool guy with a lovely sense of humour. I’ve had the pleasure of hanging out with him a lot throughout the year. He is refreshingly witty, and that’s what we are keeping in mind. We have written the character keeping his real-life persona in mind.”

For the thriller to look like a battle of titans, it was necessary to get a personality that was the stark opposite of Khan, and yet had as much gravitas as him. Ahlawat, who is riding on the success of Jaane Jaan, was the perfect fit.

The director shares, “Jaideep has an imposing personality, and there is a larger-than-life vibe about him. Also, I have to mention that he is a tremendously good-looking man, a true blue Jatt. We have some interesting ideas on how we will present him. In the film, there are two spectrums of talent—both fantastic performers, going at each other.”

If things go as planned, the project will be shot in a start-to-finish schedule by mid-year.