Bollywood superstar and filmmaker Rajkumar Hirani are reuniting for a biopic on Dadasaheb Phalke, the Father of Indian Cinema, the makers announced on Thursday.
This feature film will mark a third collaboration between Khan and Hirani after "3 Idiots" (2009) and "PK" (2014).
According to a press release, the filming on the currently untitled project will begin in October and the actor will start preparing for the role after the release of his latest film "Sitaare Zameen Par".
Dhundiraj Govind Phalke, better known as Dadasaheb Phalke, was a pioneering figure of Indian cinema. He directed 1913's "Raja Harishchandra", regarded as India's first feature film. His other notable films include "Lanka Dahan", "Shri Krishna Janma", and "Kaliya Mardan".
In 1969, the government of India instituted the Dadasaheb Phalke Award, the highest honour in Indian cinema, in Phalke's memory. The award is presented annually at the National Film Awards to honour lifetime contribution to Indian cinema.
"Set against the backdrop of independence struggle, the story unfolds an extraordinary journey of an artist, who from scratch, against all odds, goes on to give birth to the largest indigenous film industry in the world," the release further stated.
Hirani, his frequent collaborator Abhijat Joshi and writers Hindukush Bharadwaj and Avishkar Bharadwaj have been working on the script of the film for the last four years, it said.
According to the release, Phalke's grandson Chandrashekhar Srikrishna Pusalkar has "been supportive of the project and has provided major anecdotes from Dadasaheb Phalke's life".
Los Angeles-based VFX studios have already created AI designs for the era and period of the film, it added.