Amitabh Bachchan has been confirmed as the lead for Sairat director Nagraj Manjule’s Hindi film Jhund, while T-series Chairman Bhushan Kumar has come on board as producer. Jhund is a biopic of Vijay Barse, a retired school sports teacher from Pune who set up the Slum Soccer programme to coach underprivileged children in football. The film will also touch upon such concerns as drug abuse and crime while showing how sports can reform children, according to a statement from the makers.
IT'S OFFICIAL... Amitabh Bachchan to star in #Sairat director Nagraj Manjule's first Hindi movie #Jhund... Will essay the role of a retired sports teacher who starts a slum soccer movement... Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar, Savita Raj, Raaj Hiremath and Nagraj Manjule.
— taran adarsh (@taran_adarsh) June 7, 2018
The producers include Krishan Kumar, Savita Raj and Raaj Hiremath and Nagraj Manjule. The movie was supposed to go on the floors last year, but was delayed.
Jhund marks Manjule’s Hindi cinema debut after a successful career in Marathi films. His Fandry (2013) won him the Indira Gandhi Award for Best Debut Film of a Director at the National Film Awards. Karan Johar is remaking his Marathi blockbuster Sairat (2016) in Hindi as Dhadak.