Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 14 (ANI): After entertaining his fans with gritty masterpieces including the cult-classic crime saga 'Gangs of Wasseypur' (2012), the dark thriller 'Ugly' (2013), and the psychological crime drama 'Raman Raghav 2.0,' filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is back with another hard-hitting drama titled 'Nishaanchi.'

Since the trailer release, many fans have been comparing the film to 'Gangs of Wasseypur' because of its look and feel. But Kashyap himself has cleared the air, saying the two stories are not the same.

The director laughed while explaining, 'This is a film of North India. It is not Wasseypur. But the same kind of fun that people had in Wasseypur, they will have here too.'

He added that the purpose behind making Nishaanchi was to give audiences a fresh story. 'The reason to make this film was that people should forget Wasseypur,' Kashyap told ANI.

The film also marks the acting debut of Balasaheb Thackeray's grandson, Aaishvary Thackeray, who takes on a double role. The film centres on brothers Babloo and Dabloo (Thackeray), whose opposing worldviews drive the narrative set in early 2000s Uttar Pradesh, northern India.

Talking about casting Aaishvary, Kashyap shared that he first came across his school monologue on YouTube and was impressed. The filmmaker also revealed that he initially offered only one role to Aaishvary, but later changed his mind.

'Maine unka monologue dekha tha Shool ka jo maine youtube par dekha...fir mein unse mila toh pata chala ki ye toh Maharashtrian hai aur Thackery...'

'I first offered him only Babloo's role, not the double role. I wanted to see his potential. Everyone says they will work hard but don't actually do it. It has happened before. But after seeing his hard work, around six months before the shoot I told him, you are doing both the roles.'

The film is produced by Jar Pictures' Ajay Rai and Ranjan Singh alongside Flip Films, with Kashyap co-writing the screenplay with Prasoon Mishra and Ranjan Chandel.

Nishaanchi is set to hit theatres on September 19, 2025. (ANI)