Shantanu Maheshwari gears up for his silver screen debut

According to reports, popular television actor Shantanu Maheshwari is set to make his foray into Bollywood. Yes, you heard it right! The young actor has been locked to play an important role in an upcoming Hindi movie, which is being made by one of the biggest filmmakers of the industry.

Buzz has it that Shantanu Maheshwari will play a pivotal character in filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s much talked about film Gangubai Kathiawadi. The period drama features Alia Bhatt in the title role. She plays a brothel owner and matriarch of Kamathipura, Mumbai in the movie. The film is based on Hussain Zaidi’s book Queens of Mumbai. Now, as per latest reports, Shantanu Maheshwari has joined the cast of the much-awaited movie.

As per reports, Bhansali was looking for a fresh face to cast in the role and Shantanu fitted the bill perfectly. The actor will play the character of Afsan, one of the male lead roles opposite Alia. ''Sanjay Leela Bhansali was looking for a fresh face who would carry that innocence but still be convincing in a dark role. The team had auditioned Shantanu Maheshwari and they loved his tape. SLB also was immensely impressed by him and he has now officially been signed on to play one of the lead roles opposite Alia in the film,'' a source informs.

Shantanu is expected to start shooting for the film soon. In addition to Alia Bhatt and Shantanu Maheshwari, Gangubai Kathiawadi also stars Vijay Raaz in an important role. The film, reportedly, has a cameo of Ajay Devgn. However, the makers are yet to make any official announcement regarding the same.

Gangubai Kathiawadi is produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali in association with Jayantilal Gada of Pen India Private Limited. The movie is slated to arrive in cinemas on September 11, 2020.