Friday Filmworks, Neeraj Pandey & Shital Bhatia Production house, today announced that they would be teaming up with Akshay Kumar once again for their upcoming romantic thriller Rustom`. This film would mark the third such project where the Hit` trio would be coming together, the first two being the very successful Special 26` and Baby`. Inspired by real life incidents, the film, which is being co-produced by Friday Filmworks, Essel Vision and Kriarj Entertainment, is written by Vipul Rawal and will be directed by Tinu Suresh Desai.

Speaking of the association Akshay Kumar said, "Having worked with Neeraj on two fabulous projects, I am excited to start work on our new film. I am happy that Zee's Studios, is putting its might behind this film along with Kriarj Entertainment and Friday Filmworks. It gives me and the entire team confidence of this launched worldwide using the global might of Zee".

Commenting on the announcement, Neeraj Pandey, said, "When Tinu narrated Rustom` to us we immediately got hooked to the quality of the narrative and its potential and instantly decided that it was something that we would like to produce. We also really felt that given the nature of the story, Akshay would be the perfect fit and him agreeing to come on board will definitely give it the canvas it requires."

"One of the other key elements that was central to our plan while green lighting this film was that to do justice to the story it would need to be an international film traversing multiple countries and for that we would definitely require good partners. To that extent when both Essel Vision and Kriarj Entertainment saw the same potential in the story as us and readily agreed to co-produce this film along with Friday Filmworks, it just further vindicated our belief in this project" added Shital Bhatia, Producer, Friday Filmworks.

Nittin Keni, CEO, Zee Studios commented, "We are delighted to partner with Akshay Kumar, country`s leading icon, Neeraj Pandey and KRIARJ on RUSTOM`. For us at ZEE this is another key milestone for Zee`s aggressive foray into Bollywood. And with this film which will release on 12 August 2016 all over, we want to entertain our audiences."

Arjun N Kapoor, Producer, Kriarj Entertainment, said, "It is a momentous occasion to unveil our association with one of the most prolific entertainers of Hindi film industry, Akshay Kumar and the much recognised film-maker, Neeraj Pandey. With such a great beginning, we are sure this splendid team is headed to create some magic on the big screen."

Rustom`s first schedule of shoot commences by mid-December this year. The film will travel to multiple locations globally in the course of its production. Adds Arjun N Kapoor, "Neeraj Pandey is a name that`s synonymous with great storytelling and known for bringing to life some stupendous subjects. Rustom` is a film based on real-life incidents that will see a genius film-maker of his talent and sensibilities bring reel and real life in close proximity like never before. After all, Indian film lovers deserve a masterpiece from a master storyteller like him." added Arjun N Kapoor.

Apart from Akshay Kumar in the film, which is slated for an Independence Day 2016 weekend release, will also feature two gorgeous young actresses. Additionally, Neeraj Pandey will himself be penning the dialogues of the film. He will also be co-writing the screenplay along with Vipul Rawal and also contribute towards the films edit. Zee Music has bagged the music rights for Rustom`.