Actor-producer John Abraham has just about wrapped up the shoot for Emmay Entertainment's Satyamev Jayate, but his partnership with the production house is only beginning. The actor has now signed on to play the lead in their next film, based on the Batla House encounters in 2008.
Abraham will reportedly play DCP Sanjeev Kumar Yadav, who received a gallantry medal for his role in the operation.
A report in Ahmedabad Mirror, a daily, stated that the film is set to go on floors in September this year. Director-producer Nikkhil Advani has reportedly planned a 50 day shoot, over locations such as Jaipur, Lucknow, Delhi and Mumbai.
The Batla House encounter took place on 19 September 2008 and resulted in the death of two suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists, and arrest of two others. The operation was led by Mohan Chand Sharma, who succumbed to injuries sustained during the shootout with the terrorists.
Incidentally, the announcement of the film comes five years after another terrorist-based thriller by Emmay Entertainment, D-Day (2013), was released. The film, starring Arjun Rampal, Irrfan Khan, Huma Qureshi, and Rishi Kapoor was also directed by Advani.
The story for the Batla House project is written by Ritesh Shah, who also wrote D-Day. The report quoted Advani as saying, "The encounter will be seen from three perspectives — that of the police, those present near the location, many of whom believed that the bullets flying were for the TV serial Swabhimaan which was being shot in the vicinity just two days ago, and the real picture."
Abraham is currently awaiting the release of another film based on real incidents, Parmanu: The Story Of Pokhran, where he plays captain Ashwat Raina. Speaking about reuniting with Advani, the actor was quoted as saying, "His eyes light up when he speaks about Batla House, I see a hunger and passion in him and having him around as producer on Satyamev Jayate makes me believe we will work well together on this story. "
Abraham also has Milap Zaveri's Satyamev Jayate slated to be released later this year.