Following in footsteps of his father, a retired colonel, will play her army officer husband
Hiren Kotwani (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 18, 2020)

Only those who watched Bhavesh Joshi Superhero know that Harrsh Vardhan Kapoor didn’t play the titular role. Priyanshu Painyuli was the masked vigilante. Now, the actor is set to play husband to Taapsee Pannu’s Kutchi athlete in Akarsh Khurana’s sports-drama Rashmi Rocket.

Priyanshu landed the role after Vishal Bhardwaj’s adaptation of Midnight’s Children was called off. “I had blocked my dates for the film, but it didn’t materialise. Luckily, Akarsh reached out to me with this role and I grabbed it,” smiles the actor, adding that the director and he have been friends since their theatre days and had even collaborated on the 2018 film, High Jack.

However, it wasn’t friendship that made Priyanshu give a nod to a film revolving around a female protagonist. The actor got reeled in by the prospect of playing an army officer. “My dad is a retired colonel and there was a time when I wanted to join the army, before I got involved in dramatics and acting,” he shares, pointing out that his character supports his athlete-wife in her journey and is an important part of the narrative which builds around a real event. The 31-year-old actor, who hails from Bangalore, will join the team when they begin shooting in Kutch next month.

Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; June 28, 2019)

It’s been over a year since Ishaan Khatter exploded on the big screen in April in Iranian auteur Majid Majidi’s Indian drama Beyond the Clouds, following it up a couple of months later with Dhadak, Karan Johar’s Hindi remake of Nagraj Manjule’s Marathi film, Sairat. A powerhouse of talent, he was undoubtedly one of the brightest debutants of 2018, but while his Dhadak leading lady Janhvi Kapoor has already kicked off her second film, Kargil Girl, moved to a third, RoohiAfza and has the multi-starrer Takht lined up for the new year along with the Dostana sequel, Ishaan’s career seems to have hit a roadblock. Of course, it’s not for lack of offers. He’s getting the best of them, from Mira Nair’s screen adaptation of Vikram Seth’s A Suitable Boy to Vishal Bhardwaj’s Midnight’s Children.

Though there was no official announcement, buzz was, after working with Shahid Kapoor in Kaminey, Haider and Rangoon, Vishal had roped in his younger brother to play Saleem Sinai in a film he was producing and directing, based on Salman Rushdie’s Booker Prize-winning novel. It was a big break for the young actor and it is believed, Ishaan let go of Mira’s film to work with Vishal.

Now, Mirror has learnt that the duo have amicably parted ways over growing creative differences. Which again leaves Ishaan without a project in hand. Meanwhile, we have heard that Vishal is now going to launch a newcomer in the role.