Vipul Shah is on a roll. He began the year with The Kerala Story 2: Goes Beyond (2026), which was a decent success. He’s now gearing up for the release of Governor, starring Manoj Bajpayee. Two weeks ago, it was announced that he’ll make Samuk, India’s first alien thriller, starring Akshay Kumar. It is directed by Kanishk Varma of Sanak (2021) and Glory (2026) fame and is expected to be a one-of-a-kind entertainer of Indian cinema. Bollywood Hungama spoke exclusively with the veteran producer about this film.
When asked how they got the idea to make an alien creature film, Vipul Shah revealed, “It was my director, Kanishk Verma, who came up with the subject. Then we worked on it and it took us two years to write. We wanted to make it at a level which is now expected of a film of this kind. People today have access to so many films on OTT platforms. So, they know exactly how the Western world or Hollywood have mastered the art of making these films. As a result, we have to make sure that our film matches those movies.”
Vipul Shah added, “We got Alec Gillis on board to create the creature for us. Alec has been involved in several creature films like Prey (2022), Predator: Badlands (2025), etc. He has vast experience in understanding how creatures are created, designed and brought to life on screen. Also, we have opted for old-school filmmaking, which means we are going to shoot as much as possible practically and live on set. The use of VFX will be very limited. That is how you get it absolutely bang-on.”
He further said, “Then, we signed Luke Tumber for the action. He has earlier worked on Venom: The Last Dance (2024), Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One (2023) to name a few. And finally, we have our action superstar, Akshay Kumar, headlining the film (smiles). Hence, everything has fallen in place perfectly. We just need to do justice to the execution.”
Vipul Shah continued, “Getting Akshay back in the action space is very special for me. Akshay and I have done 6 films so far. This is our seventh film together, and we have never repeated genres. This is a new challenge and we are super-excited. Moreover, the kind of involvement that Akshay has in this film is extremely heartwarming. While he’s so busy, he gives considerable time to discuss every aspect of the film again and again. He’s quite deeply involved with the film. I love seeing that he’s so charged about Samuk. He’s a team player and he makes sure that everybody is equally happy as him while working on the film. Hence, I am quite excited to be working with him again. Looking forward to it!”
Does he remember the first time he met Akshay Kumar? Vipul Shah revealed, “I met him for the first time during the narration of Aankhen (2002). It’s been a long association of 27 years (smiles).”
Vipul Shah shared some more details about Samuk, “We are going to shoot extensively abroad. We plan to release it in 2027.”
The post EXCLUSIVE: “Samuk expected to release in 2027…will be made in old-school style with LIMITED VFX,” reveals Vipul Shah; adds, “Akshay Kumar’s involvement is heartwarming; despite being so busy, he’s DEEPLY involved” appeared first on Bollywood Hungama.
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