A sci-fi comedy titled ‘Choomantar’ with Ananya Panday and ‘Munjya’ star Abhay Verma in the lead roles is being planned by Dinesh Vijan that will blend science fiction, romance, and comedy to become a mainstream genre-defying entertainer. Both actors have yet to sign formal contracts. Tarun Dudeja, who helmed the female-led road trip film ‘Dhak Dhak’ in 2023, will direct ‘Choomantar’. It is expected to roll by the end of this year with prep scheduled to commence in September.  

‘Choomantar’ marks Abhay’s return to Maddock Films after ‘Munjya’ which catapulted the 27-year-old actor into the spotlight as a promising young talent. Since then, he has bagged several high-profile projects, including Shah Rukh Khan’s ‘King’ in which he stars opposite Suhana Khan. He also has ‘Asur’ director Oni Sen’s Netflix series based on Operation Safed Sagar; ‘Bambai Meri Jaan’ director Shujaat Saudagar’s ‘JC,’ a period caper comedy co-starring Shanaya Kapoor; and Phantom Studios’ love story opposite Raveena Tandon's daughter Rasha Thadani. 

This will be Ananya’s debut with Maddock Films. Last seen in Akshay Kumar’s ‘Kesari Chapter 2,’ the actress has two films with Dharma Productions lined up: ‘Chand Mera Dil’ with ‘Kill’ actor Lakshya, and Sameer Vidwans’s ‘Tu Meri Main Tera, Main Tera Tu Meri’ opposite Kartik Aaryan. She is also set to headline the second season of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Call Me Bae,’ which goes into production soon.

Meanwhile, Maddock Films has two films slated to release this month. While John Abraham’s political thriller, ‘Tehran,’ premieres directly on Zee5 on August 14, the Sidharth Malhotra and Janhvi Kapoor romantic comedy, ‘Param Sundari,’ comes to theatres on August 29. This will be followed by Ayushmann Khurrana, Rashmika Mandanna, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s vampire comedy, ‘Thama,’ during Diwali.