Ranveer Singh hails upcoming Atlee film as a “Never-Seen-Before” cinematic experience

Bollywood star Ranveer Singh on Sunday expressed excitement about his wife Deepika Padukone’s forthcoming movie with South Indian director Atlee, calling it unique. Billed as a “magnum opus,” the currently untitled movie marks Padukone’s reunion with Atlee, following their successful collaboration in the 2023 blockbuster Jawan, headlined by Shah Rukh Khan. The film is produced by Sun Pictures. “I happened to visit him (Atlee) on the sets of his current film because my wife (Deepika) was shooting with him. You may have heard it before, but you can take it from me. He is creating something that you may have never experienced in Indian cinema before,” Singh told reporters at an event here.

The actor, best known for films like Rocky Aur Rani Ki Prem Kahani, 83, Padmaavat, and Band Baaja Baarat, has teamed up with Atlee on an advertisement film for a brand. Singh is working alongside Bobby Deol and South Indian actress Sreeleela for the project. He said he has been a huge admirer of Atlee long before the director attained wide acclaim with Shah Rukh Khan-led Jawan. “Before he became a household name with Jawan and emerged as one of the biggest directors in India, I had messaged him after Mersal (2017) and told him, ‘I love your cinema, you should come to Mumbai, and we should make some movies together.’ This was back then. I wanted to collaborate with Atlee sir,” Singh added.

Singh said Atlee has been his dear friend for several years, and it is always great hanging out with him. “And to be working with his super-duper awesome team, and being in front of the lens of Mr. G K Vishnu, what a great honour and delight,” he added.

In the ad film, Singh features alongside Bobby Deol, who plays the antagonist, and South film actress Sreeleela. Singh said he grew up watching Deol’s films in the 1990s and added that he has had the privilege of working alongside his “heroes” Anil Kapoor, Govinda, Sanjay Dutt, Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan, Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgn, and Deol in various projects. “Everybody nowadays talks about Animal and Bastards of Bollywood, which have become some of the biggest streaming shows of all time. They were led by this fine artist (Deol). It was a blast to be with him (Singh had a cameo in the show). It is undoubtedly the Lord Bobby renaissance era. I saw it before it happened. I thought, ‘Bobby sir is onto something,’ if you haven’t seen Love Hostel,” Singh said.

Deol expressed that he feels blessed to be getting the “right opportunities.” “I’m happy, I’m working hard; I’m at the right time, and I get all the right opportunities,” he said. Singh also praised Sreeleela, who is set to make her feature film debut in Bollywood with Anurag Basu’s romance-drama. Calling her the “real national crush,” Singh said his family and friends were thrilled to know he was working with her on a project. “I’m very excited to see her Hindi debut; she is working with one of the finest filmmakers in our industry, Mr. Basu. I am really looking forward to that film. Thank you for doing this ad film. It was fun working with Sreeleela. She is beautiful, talented, and has a stellar, unquestionable work ethic. I think she is going to be one of the biggest stars in the years to come,” he said.

Sreeleela expressed gratitude for the love she has been receiving from fans, particularly the Hindi-speaking audience. “I had great fun working on this. This was shot so grandly. I have been a huge fan of Atlee sir since Raja Rani, and I always wanted to work with him. I am glad we started with an ad. On screen, I would often see that Ranveer sir has amazing and infectious energy, and I was curious to see how he is off-screen. When he came on set, the atmosphere would come alive. I am glad I got to do this,” she said.