Noted South filmmaker Vishnu Varadhan, who made a strong Bollywood debut with the much-acclaimed patriotic hit, Shershaah, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Kiara Advani, has been on everyone’s radar for his next Hindi film.
Pinkvilla has exclusively learnt from reliable industry sources that the Chennai-based director was recently in Mumbai for a series of meetings. The buzz in trade circles suggests that Vishnu has given his nod to direct a big-budget patriotic thriller based on the Pahalgam terror attacks, to be produced by Ekta Kapoor, Tanuj Garg, and Atul Kasbekar.
According to the sources close to development, “Vishnu found the material extremely compelling and exciting, which led to his decision to come on board immediately.”
While there has been strong chatter around this development, the producers remained unavailable for comment when contacted for official confirmation.
If the project materializes as expected, industry insiders believe this patriotic thriller could emerge as a major commercial and critical success, given Vishnu Varadhan’s track record in handling emotionally charged, high-stakes narratives.
Previously, Vishnu Varadhan made his Bollywood debut with the film Shershaah. The film is a biographical action war drama based on the life of Vikram Batra, who was martyred during the Kargil War.
Featuring Sidharth Malhotra in dual roles, the film also stars Kiara Advani, Shiv Panditt, Mir Sarwar, Raj Arjun, and others in key roles. The movie premiered on Amazon Prime Video on August 12, 2021.
Coming to Vishnu Varadhan’s work front, the filmmaker previously helmed the Tamil-language romantic action thriller Nesippaya. The film follows Arjun, a devoted lover, as he travels to Portugal to rescue his ex-girlfriend Diya after she is framed for a crime involving a business tycoon’s son.
The film stars Akash Murali and Aditi Shankar in the lead roles, along with R. Sarathkumar, Prabhu, Khushbu, Kalki Koechlin, Shiv Panditt, George Kora, and others. The romantic actioner received mixed reviews from critics upon its release.
