Sanjay Leela Bhansali

Filmmaker Sanjay Leela Bhansali, who last directed Ranveer Singh-Deepika Padukone-Shahid Kapoor film Padmaavat, is all set to produce a film based on the recent Balakot airstrike by the Indian Air Force (IAF).

Mumbai Mirror reports that the film will be produced by Bhansali along with Bhushan Kumar of T-Series and Mahaveer Jain. It will be directed by Abhishek Kapoor, whose last film was Kedarnath (2018) starring Sara Ali Khan and Sushant Singh Rajput.

The second surgical strike was carried out in Pakistan by the IAF on February 26 in retaliation to the Pulwama attack by Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) that had its base in Balakot. The attack in Jammu and Kashmir by the JeM killed 40 soldiers of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).

According to Mumbai Mirror, sources say the Bhansali film on Surgical Strike 2.0 is at the research and development stage and will take off in the middle of the year. The project was an effort to "salute and pay tribute" to the IAF, said the source, adding that a major share of the profit will be handed over to the armed forces welfare fund.

The film on the Balakot strike is in the making even as Uri, a film on the first surgical strike by the Narendra Modi government, is still in theatres. The Vicky Kaushal film has raked in the moolah at the box office. Seeing that, as soon as the second surgical strike happened, there was a rush at the Indian Motion Pictures' Producers Association (IMPPA) to register film titles such as Balakot, Surgical Strike 2.0, Pulwama, Pulwama The Deady Attack, War Room, How's the Josh?, Hindustan Hamara Hai and so on.

There are also titles such as Abhinandan registered in the name of Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman who was held captive in Pakistan for two days after he shot down a Pakistan F-16 plane with his MiG-21 Bison aircraft.

The Bhansali film has not been officially announced yet.