Varun Dhawan to star next in Shashank Khaitan's action film

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Filmmaker Shashank Khaitan has confirmed that he is currently scripting his next with Varun Dhawan in the lead, which is going to be an action-entertainer with terrorism as the backdrop.  Earlier, the director was supposed to helm "Ranbhoomi" with Varun after it did not take off, he started working on the action film.

"It (the story) has been with me since 2014. It has been one of the subjects I knew which would require experience on my part and faith on the part of my actors and producers so that they know I've graduated to that level to make a film of that stature," Khaitan told PTI. 

While Varun is on board for the film, there were reports that Khaitan is keen to cast Jahnvi Kapoor in the film. 

"I want to approach her but nothing is finalised yet. Let my script get locked first, and then we shall see," he says. 

Khaitan was speaking on the sidelines of 20th JIO MAMI Mumbai Film Festival. He was part of a panel discussion about 'Film Schools: Education vs Reality' moderated by Rahul Puri. 

Khaitan, who has directed films like "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania", "Badrinath Ki Dulhania" and the recent "Dhadak", says his experience of being in the industry for nearly five years has helped shape the project. 

"When you spend enough time directing movies, working in the industry, you get more accustomed to taking these challenges, more actors and technicians trust you. It is extremely important," he says. 

There were reports that the film will be on the lines of Tom Cruise's "Mission Impossible" and Khaitan says the team will try doing it's best to bring out world class action. 

"We will try doing things in the available budget. We can't aim to make Avatar in 200 cr, but we can have the screenplay bigger. How much we can achieve in the action and CGI, that's a question of economics." 

(With PTI Inputs)