Ananya Panday, Akshay Kumar to co-star in Karan Johar's next?
What's the story
If recent reports are to be believed, we may see Akshay Kumar and Ananya Panday in Karan Johar's next, titled The Untold Story of C Sankaran Nair. The biographical drama is based on the life of the lawyer and former Indian National Congress President, C Sankaran Nair. The courtroom drama will likely begin rolling once Kumar wraps up the Soorarai Pottru Hindi remake.
Context
Why does this story matter?
This will be the first time the Welcome actor will be teaming up with Ananya Panday. This will be Panday's third collaboration with Johar after Student of the Year 2 and Gehraiyaan. Debutant Karan Singh Tyagi, who has been groomed by Dharma Productions, will be helming the project. Kumar has previously been a part of courtroom dramas such as Jolly LLB 2 and Aitraaz.
Details
Kumar, Panday will be seen as lawyers
As per Mid-Day, Kumar will be seen as Nair, the titular lawyer-activist, while Panday, too, will be portraying the role of a headstrong advocate. The report divulged that while the 23-year-old is yet to officially sign, everything is more or less sealed. The film derives its source material from The Case that Shook the Empire, authored by Raghu Palat and Pushpa Palat in 2019.
Source material
The book looks at Nair's fight against the British Raj
The book's complete title is The Case That Shook the Empire: One Man's Fight for the Truth about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. It chronicles one of the longest and most widely reported trials in world history. Nair had penned Gandhi and Anarchy, which invited the wrath of Michael O' Dwyer, the Lieutenant Governor of Punjab, for openly talking about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre.
Twitter Post
Johar had first announced the project in June 2021
Extremely excited and honoured to be bringing the untold story of C. Sankaran Nair, a historic man to the big screens. Directed by @karanstyagi. pic.twitter.com/klJgD1FNZp
— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) June 29, 2021
Future projects
Meanwhile, Panday, Kumar have their kitties full
Panday is currently working on Liger, where she will be sharing screen space with Vijay Deverakonda (in his Hindi debut) for the first time. Legendary boxer Mike Tyson is also slated to be a part of the film in an extended cameo. Meanwhile, Kumar, who was recently seen in Samrat Prithviraj, will soon return to the screen with Rama Setu, Raksha Bandhan, and Selfiee.