Alia Bhatt to headline spy universe film; shoot to start later this year

The news was shared by Akshaye Widhani, the CEO of YRF at FICCI Frames on Tuesday.

Elaborating on the same, he said: “I'll share the worst kept secret in the industry, which is, Alia Bhatt is headlining a Spy Universe film and that the schedule starts later this year. But you know, talking about this spy universe, we are actually just so thrilled and excited about having this IP in the studio."

He further mentioned: “I think the YRF Spy Universe is a financial and cultural juggernaut. And as one of the most prized IPs, we take a lot of pride in it. So there's a lot of stuff that's going to come on the spy universe. We're going to see more and more films getting made under it but of course, not going to share everything here. We will talk about it at a more opportune time. But for now, I can just say that Alia Bhatt is headlining a spy universe film."

Alia set to join forces with actress Sharvari Wagh in the yet-to-be-titled film. Both will play super-agents in the action entertainer.

The YRF spy universe, which started off with the Salman Khan-starrer 'Ek Tha Tiger', includes films like 'Tiger Zinda Hai', 'War', 'Pathaan' and 'Tiger 3'. The next project in the spy universe will be 'War 2' starring Hrithik Roshan, NTR Jr. and Kiara Advani and directed by Ayan Mukerji.

Akshaye also touched upon the super successful year YRF has had on streaming with 'The Railway Men', about the Bhopal Gas Tragedy, being a global hit show. It trended at Number Three on Netflix. 'The Romantics', a docu-series on YRF and its impact on pop-culture for 50 years, also became a global success story. 

Akshaye said: “'The Railway Men' trended in over 36 countries, but you feel the success of content when you know people who don't speak your language, and are watching content and appreciate it. For me, that is a huge definition of success. We are a company that is not afraid to fail. We want to be able to do disruptive content." 

He added: “India loves the movies. It's a big part of our culture, it's a big part of our team. And I think 'The Romantics' was a journey that every viewer went on. So everybody has a YRF story in their life. My parents had a YRF story from Yash Ji's times. I had a YRF story from Adi's times. So like me, there are other people who all have a YRF story. There is a song that played at your wedding, which was from a YRF movie. There was a time in life when you went watch a movie and that was a YRF movie and you went with that certain someone who you might be with or might not be with, but you still have fond memories of.”