The makers of the 2015 revenge thriller are planning a sequel
Shravan Shah (MUMBAI MIRROR; February 9, 2018)

Varun Dhawan shocked the audience when he stepped out of his ‘student’ avatar to play a devastated husband out to avenge the deaths of his wife and child in Sriram Raghavan’s dark thriller Badlapur which released on January 11, 2015. Three years later, Mirror has learnt that producer Dinesh Vijan is planning to collaborate with Sriram again for another revenge drama.

According to a source, the filmmaker who is currently busy with the post production of another thriller, featuring Ayushmann Khurrana, Tabu and Radhika Apte and with the working title of Shoot The Piano Player, will join hands with Dinesh again.

“Sriram will give Dinesh a choice of two scripts. The first is an adventure thriller while the other one is a revenge drama. The latter is on the lines of Badlapur and Dinesh wants to pitch it as Badlapur 2. But it is not a follow-up on the earlier story, this is a different plot altogether but in the same zone,” informed the source.

Will this one also feature Varun? “Sriram usually prefers to cast for his film only after his script is ready. But yes, the makers are on the lookout for an A-lister. It’s too early to confirm if Varun will be a part of the project,” added the source.

When Mirror got in touch with Sriram to confirm the same, all he would say was, “It is too soon to talk about it.” However, he did not deny the news either. The filmmaker wasn’t willing to talk about the Aayushman thriller either. “We have yet to lock on a release date and a title. I’m looking for a more Hindi title,” he signed off.

Upala KBR (DNA; June 7, 2017)

Varun Dhawan raised a lot of eyebrows when he signed the dark and gritty Badlapur, but it paid off. It won him a lot of critical acclaim and applause from the audience. It was reported that the sequel is in the making with Deepika Padukone as the protagonist. Now we hear, Varun is onboard the project.

Says a source, “Varun has signed two big films — while one is Shoojit Sircar’s next, the other one is the sequel to Badlapur, and will be directed by Sriram Raghavan again. Plus, he is in talks with Sriram for another film. Though the actor enjoys his commercial successes like Badrinath Ki Dulhaniyan, he loves to tread the dark, edgy genre and is keen to be part of Badlapur 2 script again. The sequel, though based in Badlapur, will be a completely different story and not related to the first one. And while the makers may repeat Nawazuddin Siddiqui, lead actresses Huma Qureshi and Yami Gautam won’t be part of the film. Varun will shoot for both his new films this year."

There were talks of Deepika playing an anti-heroine in Badlapur 2. The source adds, “A sequel to Badlapur, with a female protagonist and a completely new cast, was being planned. The producer Dinesh Vijan had spoken to Deepika about it, and she had loved the idea. But those talks fell through as the script didn’t shape up to expectations. Sriram and Varun have shared a great equation and both are keen to work together again. Sriram starts his film with Ayushmann Khurrana on June 14, and will start Badlapur 2 after that — early next year. Ironically, Varun’s other film is with the maker who launched Ayushmann.”

Nayandeep Rakshit (DNA; May 26, 2017)

Dinesh Vijan has worked with Deepika Padukone in three films — Cocktail, Love Aaj Kal and Finding Fanny. His upcoming film Raabta features Kriti Sanon as the leading lady but he has cast Deepika, thereby ensuring that she is part of his film in some way.

Now for his next, Badlapur 2, he wants DP as the protaganist! In the original, Varun Dhawan who went on a killing spree, seeking revenge for the death of his loved ones. In the sequel, Dippy is likely to do the same.

Confirms a source, “A sequel to Badlapur, with a female protagonist and a completely new cast, is being planned. Dinesh has bounced the idea off to Deepika and she has loved it. It’s a character-driven role, just like Varun’s was in Badlapur. The script isn’t ready yet and once that’s done, the producer will give the actress a full narration and get her dates blocked for the film.”

As of now, Dippy is the first and only choice and given their long-term association, it’s most likely going to work out. Deepika wraps up filming and promotion for Padmavati by November and begins shoot for her untitled Honey Trehan film where she plays feared mafia don Sapnadidi. Badlapur 2 is expected to roll sometime in the second half of 2018.

When reached for comment, Vijan told us that the cast is yet to be finalised.