Akshay Kumar’s Mission Mangal will star Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu, Nithya Menen, Sonakshi Sinha. See pic

Actor Akshay Kumar has signed a new three-movie deal which will be jointly produced by Fox Star Studios and Cape Of Good Films. The first film to come off this partnership will be space movie, Mission Mangal.

The film will be made in collaboration with PadMan director R Balki and will be directed by Jagan Shakti. The shoot for Mission Mangal begins in mid November. The film will see a collaboration unlike any with Vidya Balan, Nithya Menen, Sonakshi Sinha, Taapsee Pannu and others.

Talking about the project, Akshay said “I am delighted to find a new creative partner in Fox Star Studios and am looking forward to creating a collaboration that will deliver a meaningful and entertaining cinematic experience. With our combined energies we hope to create content that not only excites but also empowers.”

Vijay Singh, CEO, Fox Star Studios, said, “With Jolly LLB 2, Fox Star Studios and Akshay Kumar delivered one of the biggest hits of 2017—it gives me great pleasure to take our association with Akshay further with this three film partnership with Cape Of Good Films. Akshay is one of the most successful actors who has a fantastic understanding of scripts and changing audience preferences. We are looking forward to an unprecedented collaboration with the National Award winning actor.”

Akshay is currently looking forward to the release of Shankar’s 2.0, co-starring Rajinikanth as the lead. Akshay stars as the villain in the film. At the film’s trailer launch on Saturday, Rajini praised Akshay for being a hard worker. “Akshay Kumar is one of finest actors. He had to put heavy makeup and lenses throughout but Akshay pulled it off without any complaints. His confidence never fails to entertain the audience. Hats off to him,” he said.

Akshay said working on the project has been both challenging and fun. “It was a very challenging role and it took a toll on my body. But the pain and sacrifice was worth it. My character required around 4 hours of prosthetic make-up and another hour and a half to remove it. In my whole career, I’ve never put so much of make-up,” he said.

Akshay will also be seen Housefull 4, Good News and Kesari.

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