Director Ajoy Varma debuted in Bollywood with the film, Dus Tola, which starred Manoj Bajpayee and Aarti Chabria in lead roles. The film may have not done well at the box office, but now Varma is all set to make his comeback after four years with a remake of the Iranian film, Cease Fire.
`Ajoy has been working on this project for a long time now and he has finalised Sharman and Kajal to play the lead roles. This film was a blockbuster in Iran in 2006. He is currently looking at finalising the rest of the cast. The film will go on floors in September as by then, he will have cast another actor to play a pivotal role in the film,` says a source.
Varma confirmed the news. `Yes, I have got the rights of this Iranian film which is a rom-com. It is an interesting story and apart from featuring Sharman and Kajal, the film will have lyrics penned by Gulzarsaab, while Shantanu Moitra will compose the film's music. If things go as per plan, we will soon make an official announcement about the project,` he says.
Sharman remained unavailable for comment, but Kajal's spokesperson confirmed that she has signed the film. Essentially, the story of a married couple that is on the verge of separation, Cease Fire shows them eventually realising their follies and falling in love with each other all over again. The film did good business and is known to be one of the highest grossing movies in the Iranian film industry. It is referred to as the Iranian version of the Hollywood film, Mr & Mrs Smith.