Actor Saif Ali Khan is part of Prabhas's Adipurush, the upcoming magnum opus adaptation of the Indian epic Ramayana, directed by Om Raut. According to a Times of India report, the project is currently in its pre-production stage and will go on floors this month. Saif Ali Khan will join the sets in the last week of March this year. Saif and Kareena Kapoor, are expecting their second child together and he will join the sets post his paternity leave.
While it has been confirmed that Prabhas will play Lord Ram, it was announced via a poster that Saif Ali Khan will be seen as Lankesh, another popular name for Raavan. It's worth mentioning that Saif had also played the antagonist in director Om Raut's last film Tanhaji, which was a multiplex hit.
It may be noted that in a media interaction, Saif Ali Khan had said that his version of Raavan in the upcoming film Adipurush will be humanised, and the demon king’s abduction of Sita will be justified. This statement met with a lot of criticism, and netizens, political outfits shared their discontent and began to criticise the star. Later, Saif apologised for his remarks after receiving widespread condemnation.
Recently, there were reports that the makers have approached Bollywood actor Sunny Singh, who has come into the limelight with Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety, to play Lakshmana in this film. While the makers are yet to finalise the female lead of the film, names like Anushka Shetty, Anushka Sharma, Kiara Advani and Keerthy Suresh were rumoured to play the female lead. Bollywood actor Kriti Sanon might be roped in to play the leading lady. However, the makers are yet to make an official announcement. If Kriti comes on board, this film will mark her debut in the southern film industry. The makers are yet to reveal the rest of the cast and crew. However, talks are underway with several leading actors from Bollywood to play crucial roles.
Adipurush is produced by Bhushan Kumar under T-series. This film will be Prabhas's third with producer Bhushan Kumar after Saaho and Radhe Shyam. A huge budget has been earmarked for the graphics and it will be entirely shot in a green mat like several Hollywood films. The makers are in talks with the VFX supervisors of Avatar and Star Wars to work on the graphics in the epic period actioner. The makers are eyeing a massive 2022 release and the film will be shot as a bilingual in Telugu and Hindi. It will be dubbed and released in other languages such as Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada and several foreign languages.
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