Sushant Singh Rajput to play Rifleman in Vashu Bhagnani's production

He has played a cricketer, a dacoit, an ancient tribal warrior and, now, Sushant Singh Rajput is all set to play a soldier in Rifleman.

The actor made the announcement on Army Day through his Twitter handle. 

“An advancing enemy. A border to protect. 1 Braveheart. #RIFLEMAN. On the occasion of Army Day, excited to announce my next film,” he tweeted. 

The actor followed it up by revealing the logo of the film. 

"And a new journey begins..," he added. 

The film is being produced by Vashu Bhagnani’s Pooja Films and Abundantia Entertainment.

Remarkably, while the film has been announced, the producers have not yet homed in on a director. 

“We don’t have a director yet," a source from the production house admitted. "At the moment, we have just announced the film with Rajput as the hero. The casting for other characters will be done in due course. We definitely go on the floors this year."

The source also added that the film is based on a real-life incident and is not fictional, but refused to give any details.

Interestingly, a film with a similar theme, 72 Hours, is being released this week. That film is based on the legend of Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat.

If indeed both films draw from the same source, it will be the second instance in Rajput's career. Earlier, his Raabta (2017) had a similar plot around the theme of reincarnation as Harshavardhan Kapoor's debut Mirzya (2016).

Sushant Singh Rajput will next be seen on the big screen in Abhishek Chaubey’s Sonchiriya, which is scheduled to be released on 8 February.

Update, 16 January 2019: Abundantia Entertainment is not owned by Vashu Bhagnani as earlier mentioned.