Sanjay Leela Bhansali acquires rights of Vijay's Tamil film Kaththi

After the success of Padmaavat (2018), Sanjay Leela Bhansali is planning his next projects. The filmmaker has offered a script, tentatively titled Inshallah, to Salman Khan. While there is no official word on Inshallah as yet, Bhansali is said to have acquired rights for the Hindi remake of director AR Murugadoss’s 2014 Tamil film Kaththi, starring actor Vijay. 

“SanjayLeelaBhansali has acquired the Hindi remake rights of #Vijay's hit #Tamil movie #Kaththi. Let's see who will direct the remake and with whom in lead? Will it have #AkshayKumar or #RanveerSingh in lead? Please share your thoughts. @ShobhaIyerSant #KaththiInHindi,” noted trade analyst Atul Mohan informed on Twitter.

As Mohan mentioned in his tweet, in all likelihood, it will be either Akshay or Singh in the lead. “The Bhansali production is only likely to go on floors in the second half of next year. It is one of these two who will bag the film,” Mohan told Cinestaan.com. 

Given that Singh has featured in Bhansali's last three films, their reunion cannot be ruled out. However, Singh is currently shooting for Kabir Khan’s 83 and will follow it up with Karan Johar’s Takht.

If Akshay takes up the film, it will be the second Bhansali production for him after Rowdy Rathore (2012) that was directed by Prabhu Deva. Murugadoss had directed Akshay in Holiday (2014) too. The actor will resume shooting for Housefull 4 and is also scheduled to complete Dharma Productions' Kesari. He has also picked another Dharma project titled Good News.

While it might be possible that Murugadoss be roped in to helm the remake himself, there is no clarity on who will direct the film.  

The original Tamil film Kaththi, also starring Samantha Akkineni, Sathish and Neil Nitin Mukesh, had Vijay playing a double role.