Ananya Pandey in Fighter

A lot is being  written, seen and shared about Telugu superstar Vijay Deverakonda’s Bollywood debut in Fighter, a Hindi-Telugu bi-lingual being directed by Puri Jagannath and bank-rolled by Karan Johar.

Since it’s Vijay’s first full-on action film, he has been training non-stop for it, losing weight and preparing to take off his shirt on camera. But there was no confirmation on who Vijay’s leading lady would be in  the film.

Now it’s confirmed. It’s Ananya Pandey, Karan  Johar’s blue-eyed girl after Alia Bhatt.  Coincidentally, Alia too is making her Telugu debut this year (in Rajamouli’s RRR). In both Puri and Rajamouli’s projects,  it was Karan Johar who was instrumental in getting his protegees on board.

A source very close to Karan informs that Karan’s other blue-eyed girl Janhvi Kapoor was also being seriously considered. “But Janhvi couldn’t adjust her dates, though she seriously wanted to be a part of the film. It was then that Karan  asked Ananya Pandey (who made her  debut in Student  Of The Year 2 ) and she readily agreed,” says the source.

Like Janhvi, Ananya is a  big Vijay Deverakonda fan. The two did a fun photoshoot together and are now getting ready for the first schedule of the film.