On November 9, 2020, Peepingmoon.com exclusively revealed that Farhan Akhtar is collaborating with filmmaker Ashutosh Gowariker's next adventure drama. Akhtar officially announced the film in August this year with the title Pukar, produced under his banner Excel Entertainment. We later also informed the readers that South Indian actors Rakul Preet and Jagapathi Babu have joined the cast and they will begin shooting for the film in November. However, the film has not gone on floors yet, and one hears it's been postponed indefinitely.
Peepingmoon.com has learned that Farhan Akhtar and Ashutosh Gowariker's Pukar has been put on the back burner due to script issues. "The script of this film went through many reworks in the last one year but it wasn't going anywhere. The makers couldn't crack the final draft, and hence they collectively agreed to shelve this film for the time being," a source close to the project told us, adding that the film's pre-production work has also been stopped after this last-minute decision.
Billed as a contemporary action drama set in a forest, Pukar was supposed to mark Farhan's legendary father Javed Akhtar's comeback as a screenplay writer 15 years after the Shah Rukh Khan starrer Don. However, with the script not materializing as envisioned, Javed, Farhan, and Ashutosh Gowariker decided to call off the project instead of going ahead with a half-baked story. The film that tackles the issue of forest preservation was to star Farhan as a forest ranger while Rakul Preet was brought on board to play his romantic lead and Jagapathi Babu the antagonist of the film.
With Pukar being held in cold storage, Ashutosh Gowariker and Farhan Akhtar have moved on to other projects. While Gowariker is still figuring out his next movie, Akhtar has begun the script reading session for Jee Le Zaraa that marks his directorial comeback. The road-trip film starring Bollywood's three top actresses Priyanka Chopra, Katrina Kaif, and Alia Bhatt is scheduled to go on floors mid-2022!
.jpg)
