Actress Kriti Sanon to star in Rahul Dholakia's next directorial

Mumbai: Securing a place for herself in Bollywood after giving back to back hits with 'Bareily Ki Barfi' and 'Luka Chuppi', Kriti Sanon now is reported to be playing the lead in filmmaker Rahul Dholakia next directorial.

The yet-to-be-titled thriller film will be produced by Sunir Kheterpal for Azure Entertainment, the makers said in a statement. Kriti said she was yearning to do a female-centric thriller for a long time.

ALSO READ: Dhanush’s ‘The Extraordinary Journey of the Fakir’ can take you to Paris!

"I have been waiting for the right female-driven thriller to come my way and this film ticked all the boxes and has all the elements of a commercial film. It's an entertainer that has a powerful core idea and will connect with the audiences without being preachy about the subject.

"I play a media professional for which the research has already started and I am looking forward to beginning this journey in August," Kriti said in a statement.

Kriti has her hands full with three more releases this year including 'Arjun Patiala' with Diljit Dosanjh, 'Housefull 4' and Ashutosh Gowarikar's 'Panipat'.

The project marks the first collaboration between Azure Entertainment and Rahul, who is co-producing.

"Azure pitched this idea to me which was being developed and all of us realized that there was an exciting, real-time thriller format that this story lends itself to. This is a cracker of a script and Kriti is the ideal choice for the protagonist," the director said.

Dholakia last directorial was Shah Rukh Khan-starrer 'Raees'. He also has films such as 'Parzania' and 'Lamhaa' to his credits.

The new film is being written by author Bilal Siddiqi, whose novel, "The Bard of Blood" is currently being adapted into a series for Netflix.

The makers said there will be heavy use of visual effects in the film and they are planning to rope in a top South Korean VFX Studio for it.

The project will go on floors in August and will be shot in a single schedule. The makers are looking at an early 2020 release date.

ALSO READ: Sania Mirza and Veena Malik embroil into ugly twitter combat | Read

(PTI)