Akshay Kumar is currently gearing up for the release of his upcoming film Mission Mangal, this Independence Day. The actor will be reuniting with director Jagan Shakti for yet another interesting project. Shakti, who has earlier worked as an assistant director on Cheeni Kum, Paa, English Vinglish, Thuppakki and Holiday, was set to make his directorial debut with the official Hindi remake of AR Murugadoss' Tamil film, Kaththi. As the director came across the underdog story of Mission Mangal based on Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists, the remake took a backseat. Led by Akshay, Mission Mangal also stars Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Kirti Kulhari and Sharman Joshi in pivotal roles.
Now, Jagan Shakti has roped in Akki to play a double role in AR Murugadoss’s Tamil film, the Vijay-starrer Kaththi, which is titled as Ikka. Confirming the same, Shakti stated, “But now Ikka will go on the floors very soon.” “It will resonate with the underprivileged section of the society. With my second directorial, I want to explore action which is presented in a sleek way,” he added.
Talking about Mission Mangal, Jagan said, “Our story may be
based on a true event, but the characters are fictional. I went into the
project thinking I would model the lead characters on one or two people who
would have been responsible for the mission, but I discovered that the team was
made up of a lot more scientists. We didn’t want to glorify only one set of
people, so the personal story of each of the central character is fictionalized.
Akshay sir plays the mission director and not the (ISRO) chairman. His
character is unique and at the center of the mission. That said, the success of
the mission cannot be credited to one person alone.”
Images Source: instagram/akshaykumar, twitter/jaganshakti