Akshay Kumar to play Prithviraj Chauhan in YRF-produced historical drama, actor confirms on 52nd birthday

Akshay Kumar took to Twitter on 9 September (Monday) to announce his new film, a historical drama titled Prithviraj. The announcement was made on the actor's 52nd birthday. Prithviraj will be produced by YRF Films and directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi. It is scheduled to hit cinemas on Diwali 2020.

Here is Akshay's announcement.

A brief teaser, showcasing the film's title, was also unveiled. The 42 second long clip is set to religious chants and features the actor as the Rajput warrior and king, Prithviraj Chauhan, on horseback.

According to News18, the film will be based on First Battle Of Tarain led by the king. His story inspired many films and TV shows over the years. It will reportedly go on floors in November and will be shot around Rajasthan and Mumbai. The report further states that Sanjay Dutt was initially considered for the role, but he will reportedly play Muhammad Ghori.

Akshay was last seen in the space drama Mission Mangal, which was a box office hit. The film also starred Vidya Balan, Sonakshi Sinha, Nithya Menen, Taapsee Pannu and Sharman Joshi in pivotal roles. This year, he was seen in the historical drama Kesari, based on the 1897 Battle of Saragarhi.

His upcoming projects include Housefull 4 alongside Bobby Deol, Pooja Hegde, Riteish Deshmukh, Kriti Sanon and Kriti Kharbanda. There is Good News with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Diljit Dosanjh and Kriti Sanon as well as Rohit Shetty's cop film Sooryavanshi. He is also part of Laxmmi Bomb, a remake of Raghava Lawrence's super-hit Tamil horror comedy Kanchana.