Ananya Panday might not be known for her acting talent, but she is definitely working on her craft and getting better at it with each new film. The actress hopes to shed her bubbly image in the coming year and has committed to projects that will push her as a performer. In Dharma Productions’ C. Shankaran Nair biopic, she plays a feisty junior lawyer to Akshay Kumar, whereas her debut web series with Amazon Prime Video sees her in the role of a billionaire fashionista. And now, she has bagged a film with an acclaimed filmmaker, adding one more interesting project to her solid 2023 lineup.
Peepingmoon.com has exclusively learned that Ananya Panday is now teaming up with Vikramaditya Motwane. The filmmaker, known for directing critically acclaimed films like Udaan, Lootera, Bhavesh Joshi Superhero, and AK vs. AK, is next making a quirky thriller and has roped in Ananya to play a lead role. The film is said to be an ensemble drama, and will see the Khaali Peeli actress playing a role she hasn’t explored before. "Ananya immediately lapped up the offer when Motwane approached her for this yet-untitled film. The director has been on her wishlist, and she is excited to work with him in such a short span of her career. Motwane has begun the preparations and is currently scouting locations with his team. They will begin filming in February and shoot it in one go," a source told us, adding that Motwane himself produces this film under his banner, Andolan Films.
Ananya is currently busy shooting for Karan Singh Tyagi’s untitled biographical drama, which unravels the legendary courtroom battle that Sankaran Nair fought against the British Raj to uncover the truth about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre. She is expected to finish the first schedule of this Akshay Kumar starrer by the end of this month and will then head to the final schedule of Ayushmann Khurrana’s Dream Girl 2, starting on January 10 in Mumbai. The film is a sequel to Khurrana's 2019 comedy and revolves around a Mathura-based guy who has to cross-dress as a woman to earn a livelihood. Ananya is expected to shoot for Motwane’s film in February, and only after finishing that will she move on to her debut web series, Call Me Bae. The Dharmatic Entertainment production, directed by Collin D’Cunha, stars Ananya in the titular role of Bae, who is disowned by her ultra-rich family due to a salacious scandal. The actress also has Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, a digital story about three friends living in Mumbai, slated for release in the first quarter of 2023. Siddhant Chaturvedi and Adarsh Gourav star alongside Ananya in this Arjun Varain Singh directorial, produced by Excel Entertainment.
Vikramaditya Motwane, meanwhile, has an Amazon Prime show, titled Jubilee, coming up in 2023. The period drama series is set in a newly independent India and unveils the stories and dreams that gave birth to Bollywood as we know it. Prosenjit Chatterjee, Aditi Rao Hyadri, Aparshakti Khurana, and Wamiqa Gabi play the lead roles in this Reliance Entertainment production, written by Atul Sabharwal. The series is presently in post-production and will premiere on Amazon Prime Video in the first half of 2023.