Hyderabad-based filmmaker Sankalp Reddy, who made his directorial debut with the Hindi-Telugu film The Ghazi Attack (2017), will be helming the Vidyut Jammwal starrer IB 71. The Hindi espionage thriller will be Jammwal’s first as a producer, and the story written by Aditya Shastri is inspired by true incidents that unfolded during the 1971 Indo-Pak war.
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The actor will play an intelligence officer and according to the film’s team, “The story recounts the tale of how Indian intelligence officers outwitted the Pakistani establishment and gave the Indian Armed Forces the required advantage they needed to face a two-front war. Not all victories are won on the battlefield; some are won with clever manoeuvres.”
Sankalp’s debut film The Ghazi Attack won the National Award for the Best Feature Film and was based on true incidents that led to the sinking of the PNS Ghazi submarine during the Indo-Pak war in 1971. He then directed the Telugu space thriller Antariksham 9000 kmph and a segment for Netflix’s Telugu anthology film Pitta Kathalu.
On IB 71, Sankalp says, “This story is about what goes on before a triumph and a very different kind of heroism is at play.” IB 71’s screenplay is by Storyhouse Films LLP. Co-produced by Abbas Sayyed, the film will go on floors towards the end of 2021.