Madhuri steps in to play Sri Devi's role in Abhishek Varman's film, Karan Johar confirms

Madhuri Dixit will play the role in place of Sri Devi in Abhishek Varman's upcoming film, after the latter's sudden death last month. 

Tentatively titled Shiddat, the Dharma Productions venture supposedly features an ensemble cast that includes Alia Bhatt, Varun Drawn, Sanjay Dutt, Sonakshi Sinha and Aditya Roy Kapur.

Karan Johar in his tweet confirmed that Madhuri Dixit has taken over the role of Sri Devi.

However, he said that the film will not be titled Shiddat anymore. The final cast, credits of the film will be announced soon and its shooting will start soon as well.

Some clarifications!!! Yes...we are honoured and humbled to have @MadhuriDixit on board for @abhivarman ‘s next! NO the film is NOT titled SHIDHAT! Yes the film will Commence shoot in mid April! The films final cast and credits will be announced soon!

— Karan Johar (@karanjohar) March 19, 2018

 Late Sri Devi's daughter, Janhvi Kapoor took her Instagram handler to announce that the film was very close to mom's heart. She's grateful to Madhuri for being part of it. 

Abhishek Varman’s next film was very close to mom’s heart ...Dad, Khushi and I are thankful to Madhuriji for now being a part of this beautiful film...

A post shared by Janhvi Kapoor (@janhvikapoor) on Mar 19, 2018 at 1:12am PDT

According to Indian media, the movie is set to be a period drama set in the 1940s, with partition serving as the backdrop and Manish Malhotra is designing the look for the entire cast.