A source tells us, “Abhay is more thrilled about Basra than he is about Aisha. A martial arts trainer visits the sets of Aisha to train Abhay. He is beefing up for his first full-fledged action role of a spy. Abhay Deol is a hatke hero, who has proved his mettle. So, obviously, he wants a hatke heroine opposite him. Chitrangda Singh is classy, beautiful and a fabulous actress, so he has zeroed in on her for his first home production. There will be two other heroines in the film. One of them is Shahana Goswami, another unconventional actress, and the third is yet to be finalized.’

The gritty thriller will be directed by Navdeep Singh, who made the critically-acclaimed dark thriller Manorama Six feet Under with Abhay. That film also had two heroines opposite Abhay. The film will go on the floors early next year. The movie begins in the Iraqi town of Basra and moves to Mumbai and Delhi as the story, about drug dealers, progresses.

Chitrangda Singh has shifted base to Mumbai to pursue her acting career whole-heartedly. She is a regular on magazine covers, and has been signed as the ambassador for a particular brand of cream.

The film was originally supposed to star Akshaye Khanna, R. Madhavan and Fardeen Khan, but Abhay Deol has taken over the film, which will be produced by his banner, Forbidden Films.

When contacted, Chitrangda Singh refused to comment, and the director said it was too early to comment on the film.