Parineeti Chopra cast opposite Akshay Kumar in Kesari?

Actor Akshay Kumar's next film, Kesari, based on the battle of Saragarhi will mark his first collaboration with Karan Johar's Dharma Productions. The title of the film was announced in October this year, with Akshay in the lead. Although Salman Khan was initially associated with the project, he backed out after the news of Ajay Devgn making another film on the same subject broke. Despite the absence of Khan, Akshay and Johar are set to jointly produce the film.

The latest reports suggest that Parineeti Chopra has been cast as the female lead. The actress, who was recently seen in the Rohit Shetty film, Golmaal Again, was in the running for the role alongwith other names such as Katrina Kaif.

Entertainment portal, Bollywoodlife.com, quoted a source as saying, "Both Karan and Akshay have zeroed in on Parineeti Chopra and she has given her nod too. She is very much onboard and will begin prep for the film soon." The report also suggested that an official announcementi is expected to happen later in November.

Kesari is based on the legendary battle of Saragarhi which took place North West Frontier Province in 1897. The battle saw 21 soldiers of a regiment take on 10,000 Pashtun tribesmen.

The story is the subject of two more films. While Randeep Hooda is playing the lead in Rajkumar Santoshi's film, Battle of Saragarhi, Ajay Devgn is producing and acting in Sons of Sardaar: The Battle of Saragarhi.

Chopra already has the Arjun Kapoor-starrer, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar and Namastey Canada in her upcoming list. The actress is also preparing for her role alongside Sushant Singh Rajput in Takadum.

Kesari is directed by Anurag Singh, and is set to be released in the Holi weekend of 2019.