Actor Akshay Kumar is all set to star in the Hindi remake of the 2019 Telugu film Rakshasudu. In a statement announcing that the Telugu film’s sequel, Rakshasudu 2, will be a 100-crore pan-Indian project, producer Koneru Satyanarayana confirmed that Kumar had approached them for the rights to the Hindi remake.
The actor had requested that the rights be given to Pooja Entertainment, the producer added. “We readily gave away the rights as we felt he would be perfect for the role. Since we could not do the film, we gave the rights to Pooja Films.”
Earlier, Satyanarayana was supposed to remake the film in Hindi but the plans fell through due to Covid-19.
The producer also stated that Ramesh Varma, who had directed the Telugu film, will make his Hindi directorial debut with this remake.
Rakshasudu, which stars Bellamkonda Sreenivas and Anupama Parameswaran in the lead roles, is itself a remake of the Tamil thriller Ratsasan, starring Vishnu Vishal and Amala Paul. The story revolves around a cop on the track of a serial killer who murders schoolgirls.
The Tamil film, helmed by director Ramkumar of Mundasupatti fame and bankrolled by Axess Film Factory, was a critical and commercial success. It was nominated for and won several awards, including ‘Best Picture’, ‘Best Thriller’, ‘Best Score (Feature)’ and ‘Best Actor’ at the Los Angeles Film Awards in 2019.
In his statement, which comes close upon the second anniversary of the Telugu remake, Satyanarayana also provided information on the sequel that is in the works. He added that the filming of Rakshasudu 2 will take place in London and it will be a pan-Indian film. “We have earmarked a budget of 100 crore and it will be entirely shot in London. We will announce the name of the hero at the right time,” he said.
Satyanarayana is currently producing the Telugu film Khiladi, starring Ravi Teja, which is also directed by Ramesh Varma. The producer revealed that the Hindi remake rights of the upcoming film is already in demand. “Some big heroes from Bollywood are already after us for the movie rights. We will have to take a decision soon.”
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Meanwhile, Kumar will be back in theatres on August 19 with his film Bell Bottom. The spy thriller co-stars Lara Dutta, Vaani Kapoor, and Huma Qureshi. Also produced by Pooja Entertainment, in association with Emmay Entertainment, the Ranjit M Tewari directorial will release in 2D as well as 3D.
The actor also has a few other projects, namely Raksha Bandhan, Ram Setu, Bachchan Pandey, and Prithviraj.