While speculations about Alia Bhatt joining YRF blockbuster Spy Universe have been making headlines for almost 6 months now, Yash Raj Films CEO Akshaye Widhani confirmed this huge development at FICCI Frames today! When Akshaye was constantly prodded to reveal one new development within YRF’s spy universe, he said, “I’m going to share the worst kept secret in the industry, that Alia Bhatt is the lead in Spy Universe and the schedule starts later this year. . But you know, when we talk about this spy world, we are so excited and excited to have this IP in the studio.” He adds, “I think the YRF Spy Universe is a financial and cultural juggernaut. And as one of the most awarded IPs, we are very proud of it. So there’s a lot of things coming to the spy universe. We will see how more and more films will be shot under it. But of course I won’t share everything here. But we’ll talk about that at a more convenient time. But for now, all I can say is that Alia Bhatt is the star of the spy space movie.”
Alia Bhatt will team up with Bollywood’s young and rising star Sharvari Wagh in the yet-to-be-titled film. Super agents will star in the action entertainer! YRF Spy Universe kicked off with Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger (2012), followed by Tiger Zinda Hai (2017) and War (2019) with Hrithik Roshan and Tiger Shroff. It was taken forward with Pathaan, starring Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone and John Abraham and then Tiger 3 with Salman Khan and Katrina Kaif. Now the next project will be War 2 starring Hrithik Roshan, NTR Jr. and Kiarou Advani and directed by Ayan Mukerji.
Akshaye also touched on the super successful year YRF had streaming with The Railway Men, about the Bhopal gas tragedy, which is a global hit! It’s trending number three on Netflix! The Romantics, a documentary series about YRF and its impact on pop culture over 50 years, also became a global success.
Akshaye says, “The Railway Men was trending in over 36 countries, but you feel the success of the content when you know people who don’t speak your language are watching the content and appreciating it. To me, that is a huge definition of success. We are a company that is not afraid of failure. We want to be able to make disruptive content.
He adds, “India loves movies. It’s a big part of our culture, it’s a big part of our team. And I think The Romantics was a journey that every viewer took. So everyone has a YRF story in their life. My parents had a YRF story from the Yash Ji days. I had a YRF story from the Adi days. So there are other people like me who have a YRF story. A song was played at your wedding which was from a YRF movie. There was a time in life when you went to see a movie, and it was a YRF movie, and you went with that certain someone who you may or may not have been with, but you still have fond memories of them.”
Akshaye goes on to say, “I think because of that connection and association with this company and the studio has, it’s a cultural connection with the audience. And I think that’s what got people excited and attracted people to watch romances, which made them like it more. There is a total nostalgia that the youth associate with them because there was again a story about their family or a movie that they saw and loved. Not to forget, Aditya Chopra also made his screen debut, which gave us an incredible amount of eyeballs!”
