Salman Khan starrer Antim: The Final Truth (2021) might have had an underwhelming performance at the box office, but actor Mahima Makwana, who marked her Hindi debut with the actioner, grabbed the attention of many. After bagging a couple of music videos and filmmaker couple Nitesh Tiwari and Ashwini Iyer Tiwari’s young-adult comedy-drama Bas Karo Aunty, reports suggest that she has now been roped in to play the lead in Dharma Productions’ next.
According to a source, “Makwana is all set to kick-start the shoot in November for this project. It will be directed by Mihir Desai and Archit Kumar and shot largely in Mumbai.” She has been spotted at the Dharma office a couple of times and if rumours are to be believed, this would be her first project with filmmaker Karan Johar’s production house.
The source adds that the project is titled Showtime and will be aired on Disney+ Hotstar. Details about the rest of the cast are still kept under wraps. It will also star Emraan Hashmi and will mark his third collaboration with Johar after Ungli (2014) and the yet-to-released comedy drama Selfiee, which also stars Akshay Kumar, Diana Penty, and Nushrratt Bharuccha.
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As per speculations, Makwana had to undergo multiple rounds of auditions before being finalised for her role. Showtime, reportedly, is about show business and will shed light on the struggles of an outsider in the industry and touch upon the much-talked-about topic of conversation – nepotism.
Earlier, Makwana, who had appeared on popular television shows like Sapne Suhane Ladakpan Ke and Pyaar Tune Kya Kiya, had told Pinkvilla in an interview that being an outsider who used to work in the television industry, she went through a lot of rejections before foraying into Bollywood.
“While I was working on TV I was simultaneously trying hard to expand my horizon or take a risk and see how the OTT world looks like. You know it was a childhood dream to be part of Bollywood and why not. But never did I imagine that this is how it’s gonna be. Because as actor you are so used to rejections, you are so used to failures, you are so used to being criticised because as a TV person I was also typecast…” she had said.
On a related note, Makwana wrapped up the shoot of Bas Karo Aunty in August. The film is based on author Varun Agarwal’s book How I Braved Anu Aunty And Co-Founded A Million Dollar Company. It is produced by Roy Kapur Films and RSVP Movies and also stars Ishwak Singh.
