R Madhavan and Anushka Shetty have teamed up for the first time for the upcoming multilingual thriller Silence, which will be predominantly shot in the United States. The project, titled Nishabdam in Telugu, went on the floors today with a customary launch ceremony.
The project, to be shot simultaneously in Telugu, Tamil and English, will mark Hollywood actor Michael Madsen’s debut in an Indian film. The film also stars Subbaraju, Anjali, Shalini Pandey and Avasarala Srinivas in pivotal roles.
“This is an international film with stars from Hollywood, ‘Bollywood’ [mainstream Hindi cinema] and ‘Tollywood’ [Telugu cinema]. Michael Madsen, who has starred in over 100 Hollywood films, is for the first time doing an Indian international film. He plays an important character in the film,” read a statement from Vishwa Prasad, CEO of People Media Factory, which is bankrolling this project.
Anushka Shetty, who had not signed any project since last year’s Bhaagamathie (2018), has pinned all her hopes on this project for which she is believed to have shed a lot of weight. In March, when pictures of Shetty’s leaner self got leaked, fans couldn’t stop going gaga over the new look.
Meanwhile, Shetty may also reunite with filmmaker Gautham Vasudev Menon for Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa 2, a sequel to his hit 2010 romantic drama Vinnaithaandi Varuvaayaa. This project was also supposed to star Madhavan, but now will feature Simbu, who was part of the first film as well.
Madhavan, on the other hand, is on the verge of wrapping up Rocketry: The Nambi Effect, a biopic on controversial Indian Space Research Organization scientist Nambi Narayanan, who was framed in an espionage case and later acquitted.
The film is based on the scientist’s autobiography, Ormakalude Brahmanapadam (In the Orbit of Memories), which was released in October 2017.