Akshay Kumar’s Bachchan Pandey to be a Hindi remake of Jigarthanda

Last June, Akshay Kumar had announced a new film of his titled ‘Bachchan Pandey’ with Farhad Samji as the director and Sajid Nadiadwala as the producer. Its first look featuring a bare-chested Akshay with a nunuchaku had grabbed attention. It was then supposed to be the remake of hit Tamil film ‘Veeram’ but latest reports suggest that the makers have dropped that idea. They are instead planning to remake ‘Jigarthanda’, also a hit film.

Bollywood medias report that producer Sajid Nadiadwala and director Farhad have decided to change the script. The makers had been planning to remake ‘Jigarthanda’ since last year when Sajid Nadiadwala bought the rights. Initially, they had tried to rope in Rajkummar Rao, Sanjay Dutt and Kriti Sanon but things didn’t fall in place. Now, they are reviving the film as ‘Bachchan Pandey’, making some changes to suit the sensibilities of the Hindi audience.

‘Jigarthanda’ directed by Karthik Subbaraj is an unusual gangster comedy starring Siddharth, Bobby Simha and Lakshmi in the leads. The film was a big success and enjoys a cult status today. Bobby had also won a National award for his performance in the film. Last year, it was successfully remade in Telugu as ‘Gaddalakonda Ganesh’ with Varun Tej, Atharvaa, Pooja Hegde, and Mirnalini Ravi as the principal actors.

In the Hindi version, the makers are planning a role reversal with Kriti, Akshay playing the lead leads. While Akshay Kumar will be seen playing Bobby Simha’s gangster character, Kriti will be reprising the filmmaker’s role done by Siddharth. Shoot is likely to begin in a couple of months time.