Vishal Bhardwaj steps in to direct the Deepika-Irrfan st

Vishal Bhardwaj steps in to direct the Deepika Padukone-Irrfan Khan starrer, after creative differences with original director

Vishal's film is scheduled to begin shooting from February end.

Vishal Bhardwaj is known to completely transform the image of an actor. We saw Saif Ali Khan (Omkara), Shahid Kapoor (Haider, Kaminey), Priyanka Chopra (7 Khoon Maaf) emerge as stronger actors after they did a collab with the ace director. So, when we tell you that the filmmaker will be directing Deepika Padukone next, there is a big reason to get excited.

As we all know that Deepika's next film, yet to be titled, will be produced by KriArj and Vishal Bhardwaj Pictures and will also star Irrfan Khan. It was formerly to be directed by Honey Trehan. But now we learn that Vishal has stepped in to direct the film himself, apart from co-producing it. Vishal said, in a statement, "Due to different artistic visions of the film, Honey (Trehan) and I jointly came to the decision that it would be best if I took over as director and saw it through to the end. The Irrfan and Deepika starrer is based on one of the chapters from S. Hussain Zaidi's book Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Deepika will essay the role of feared mafia don Rahima Khan popularly known as Sapna Didi, while Irrfan will play a local gangster.

"Owing to our differences in creative understanding, we have mutually and amicably decided that it would be best for our film if Vishal sir took over as Director, said Honey. The statement also adds that he will make his directorial direct with another project in the near future to be produced by VB Pictures and KriArj.

Vishal's film is scheduled to begin shooting from February end. Earlier, the filmmaker had said Deepika is a "rare combination of a superstar and good actor. "I think Deepika is one the finest actresses that we have in the country. She is a combination of superstar and a good actor. It's a rare combination that a performer is a superstar and at the same time has great acting abilities. Deepika is one of them, the filmmaker had stated at an event.

Deepika Padukone has had no Bollywood releases in 2017 and 2016, but the effect of Bajirao Mastani (2015) and her Hollywood debut, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, were enough to keep fans occupied. But now as the new year kicks in, we are so looking forward to see more of Deepika. Of course, there is the release of the Sanjay Leela Bhansali magnum opus, Padmavati, but now we can look forward to her project with Vishal Bhardwaj even more.