While there have been speculations about Deepika Padukone teaming up with Rohit Shetty for a solo cop drama in the past, it was only in the recently released Singham Again that she was officially introduced as Lady Singham. Rumors regarding her role have circulated since the success of Simmba in 2019-2020, but it wasn’t until this year that audiences finally got a glimpse of her character. Now, adding to the excitement, the filmmaker has confirmed that a film featuring her is definitely in the works.
Rohit Shetty elaborated on the delay in introducing Deepika as Lady Singham during an interview with News18, stating, “The wait was about finding the right script and the perfect launch for the character. Until 2018, I wasn’t even certain if there would be a cop universe.” He emphasized that it was only after the success of Ranveer Singh’s Simmba that they decided to expand the universe by introducing more characters. “When Simmba became a hit, audiences embraced the idea of introducing additional characters to create a cohesive universe. That’s when we developed Sooryavanshi (starring Akshay Kumar), and during that project, we began to contemplate a film centered around a female cop.”Moreover, the filmmaker noted that Lady Singham would have had her spin-off much earlier if not for the pandemic, which delayed the production of Sooryavanshi.
Now that the character has been unveiled, Rohit Shetty has confirmed that he will begin working on a solo cop project with Deepika Padukone. “We still need to write it. We have a concept in mind, but we’re not entirely sure where it will lead. There’s still time to refine it. I have a clear idea of what the character will be like and her basic story arc, but I have yet to map out her entire journey as a director or writer. However, a female-led cop film featuring Lady Singham is definitely on the horizon; otherwise, we wouldn’t have introduced her in the first place. There’s a reason we emphasized that character and her name in Singham Again,” he added.