Janhvi Kapoor will star opposite Rajkummar Rao in the horror comedy Rooh-Afza, producer Dinesh Vijan confirmed while speaking to a leading daily. Rooh-Afza will begin filming in June in Uttar Pradesh and will release on March 20, 2020. During his conversation with the daily from London, Dinesh said that Janhvi is perfect for the role and he is confident that she will be able to pull off the “contrasting personalities” of her character in the film effortlessly.

Varun Sharma, best known for his role of Choocha in Fukrey, also stars in Rooh-Afza. “Rajkummar and Varun are actors who excel in comedy and own the space. For the leading lady we were looking for someone who had not experimented with the genre before and Janhvi fit the bill perfectly. The script is young and wonderfully crazy and though we haven’t seen Janhvi in this avatar yet, that’s how she is in real life. I’m pretty sure she will pull off the contrasting personalities with effortless ease,” Dinesh told the daily.

[caption id="attachment_231297" align="aligncenter" width="800"] Janhvi Kapoor photographed in Mumbai[/caption]

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Sources, meanwhile, told the daily that Janhvi has been cast in a double role in the film and both her characters in Roof-Afza are diverse, similar to that of her mother, veteran actress Sridevi’s 1989 film ChaalBaaz.

“She plays Roohi and Afza who are the polar opposites of each other. While one is chirpy, the other is subdued, both equally sweet. Janhvi will bring back memories of her mother Sridevi’s twin turns, Anju and Manju, in the ’89 slapstick comedy ChaalBaaz,” a source was quoted as saying by the daily.

Set in Uttar Pradesh’s Moradabad, Rooh Afza is based on a folk legend as the plot is based on female ghosts attempting to keep grooms awake during their first night after their respective wedding.

[caption id="attachment_204940" align="aligncenter" width="647"] Rajkummar Rao photographed in Mumbai[/caption]

Rooh-Afza will be directed by Hardik Mehta, who supervised the script of Vikramaditya Motwane’s 2013 film Lootera, starring Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha in the lead roles, as well as Kangana Ranaut’s 2013 film Queen.

Janhvi Kapoor made her debut in Bollywood with Dhadak in 2018 and is currently filming the Gunjan Saxena biopic. Apart from Rooh-Afza, she will also appear in Karan Johar’s Takht.