Deepika Padukone likely to replace Kangana Ranaut in Imali

Acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Basu is currently busy shooting his next directorial venture which still remains untitled. The film stars an ensemble star cast which includes the likes of Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkummar Rao, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanya Malhotra and Fatima Sana Shaikh.

The untitled movie is said to be a dark comic anthology. The shooting of the film is going on at a brisk pace and Anurag Basu says that he will wrap it up in the coming 10-15 days, post which the film will go into post-production. The multi-starrer is set to hit the marquee in the month of February next year.

After finishing his ongoing project, Anurag Basu will start working on his next film called Imali. Initially, National Film award-winning actress Kangana Ranaut was set to play the female lead in the film. However, she quit the project saying she needed to focus on her next directorial venture after Manikarnika: The Queen of Jhansi (2019).

Now speculations are rife that Deepika Padukone will replace Kangana Ranaut in the movie. Basu also confirms that she has approached the actress for the part. However, she is yet to take the final call. "I cannot confirm till she confirms anything. I did meet her. She has to confirm it to me and then we can confirm it to others."

Meanwhile, Deepika Padukone is busy with her next film 83. It stars her husband and frequent collaborator Ranveer Singh as the male lead. The actress will next be seen in a biopic based on the life of acid attack survivor Laxmi Agarwal called Chhapaak. Directed by Meghna Gulzar, the film is set to enter theatres on 10^th January, 2020.