Alia Bhatt kicks off Meghna Gulzar’s upcoming espionage thriller, Raazi, in July

Alia Bhatt will start shooting for Junglee Pictures’ Raazi from July, in which Bhatt Jr. plays a Kashmiri girl married to a Pakistani army officer in the espionage thriller.

Four months after her last release, Badrinath Ki Dulhania, Alia Bhatt will return to action with Meghna Gulzar’s next directorial after Talvar. Raazi, produced by Junglee Pictures and Dharma Productions, is based on Harinder Sikka’s novel, Calling Sehmat. The espionage thriller revolves around a Kashmiri girl, played by Alia, married to an army officer across the border, Vicky Kaushal, who provides the Indian Intelligence with invaluable information during the 1971 Indo-Pak war and saves the lives of scores of our soldiers. The film will be shot in Punjab and Kashmir in a start-to-finish schedule from July, followed by a small portion in Mumbai.

“I am trying to do something in a new space, recreating India and Pakistan of the ’70s on sets and real locations. A lot of research has gone into getting the period and dialect right. There are some action pieces too. It’s work in progress with workshops and reading sessions,” informs Meghna.

Priti Shahani, President of Junglee Pictures, says, “We are very excited with the entire team that has come together with us to tell this story. It’s the first time we are collaborating with Karan Johar who has a very keen understanding of connecting stories with the audience and brings immense creative value to storytelling. Alia has showcased her acting prowess in every film and right from start we saw her as our Sehmat. As for Meghna, it’s like a homecoming for us post-Talvar and she is the perfect person to tell this story.”

Meghna is gung-ho about her leading lady too, saying she has landed a challenging role and at the risk of sounding clichéd, a character unlike any she’s played before. When asked to explain the intriguing title she says, “It’s only when you agree to something that you eventually end up doing it and live with the consequences. ‘Raazi’ is a synonym of ‘Sehmat’ which also means agreeable.”

The male lead Vicky Kaushal says  “I’m honored to be getting an opportunity to work with Meghana Gulzar and also looking forward to working with Alia, who I feel is one of the finest actresses we have at the moment. Actually, the entire team is so talented and especially to be working with Dharma Productions is rewarding for any young actor. I’ll soon wrap up Raju Sir’s Film and will begin Shooting for Raazi.”

Raazi is getting us all excited and we can’t wait for the first look to surface!