Not Alia Bhatt, THIS actress joins Maddock's horror-comedy universe for Shakti Shalini, deets inside

At the beginning of this month, Maddock Films unveiled their exciting slate of the horror-comedy universe. Some previous films are getting sequels while new ones have been added. The slate will have releases from 2025 to 2028. Some of the new additions include Thama, Shakti Shalini, Chamunda, and several others. Earlier, there were reports that Alia Bhatt would be joining the franchise. The actress was also spotted at the Maddock office last year. However, it looks like someone else has bagged the project instead.

Shakti Shalini gets its leading lady?

When Shakti Shalini was announced, two names were being speculated as the contenders for the film: Alia Bhatt and Kiara Advani. A latest report suggests that it is Kiara who is finalised for Maddock's film. Just like Alia, even the Kabir Singh actress was in talks with Dinesh Vijan for a project and it looks like things have finally fallen into place.

Further in this entertainment news, the report also mentions the director who is roped in to direct Shakti Shalini. As reported by Peeping Moon, Ajitpal Singh will direct the horror-comedy film starring Kiara Advani. Singh is known for his impeccable work for SonyLIV's shpw tabbar. Some of his works include films like Rammat-Gammat (a short film) and Fire in the Mountains.

The shooting is expected to go on floors in April or May 2025 and the movie will hit theatres on December 31, 2025. The story is inspired by Indian folklore and will have a fresh fantasy twist to it. Along with SS, another film from the universe released this year is Thama. Directed by Amar Kaushik, it stars Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna. On the other hand, Kiara also has Ayan Mukerji's War 2 releasing this year. A sequel to the 2019 film, it also stars Hrithik Roshan and Jr. NTR.