After a considerable gap, filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri is back with a biopic film this time, titled ‘Freedom’. While Madhavan will play the lead, the director revealed that he is planning to rope in another southern superstar Mohanlal for the film.

Besides, this film Vivek has another project on hand, titled 12. The film is said to be based on the famous Hollywood classic ‘12 Angry Men’. “I am scouting for 12 talented actors from all across the country. I am planning to announce the film officially in the month of March,” shared the filmmaker to sources.

Rajkumar Hirani’s 3 Idiots, starring Aamir Khan, Madhavan, Sharman Joshi and Kareena Kapoor, is turning out to be a mega blockbuster.

Sources in the industry claim that the film has already grossed about Rs 240 crore in just 10 days and the final figures may touch the staggering Rs 300-crore mark.

Latest buzz is that two leading production houses in the south are trying to get remake rights for the Telugu and Tamil versions of the film. The grapevine has it that one of the houses is holding negotiations with the makers of the film and that it is ready to offer a whopping Rs 10 crore to remake the film in all south Indian languages. The same house had remade Munnabhai MBBS into Shankar Dada MBBS in Telugu and Vasool Raja MBBS in Tamil. Mano Akkineni from the house confirms, “Yes, we are negotiating with Vinod and Raju for the remake rights of 3 Idiots. But we haven’t thought about the star cast.”

Meanwhile, rumors are afloat that most top heroes here are interested in being a part of the remake, albeit on their own terms. Madhavan has made it clear that he is open to the idea of repeating his role in Tamil as well. The front-runner for Aamir Khan’s role in the film is Surya, though sources close to him say he will not do the role as he has no immediate dates to offer. There are also unconfirmed reports that Vijay likes the film and is thinking of doing a film that is different from his usual style. When contacted, Surya told NSC, “I loved 3 Idiots. But the movie will require a very good director if it is to be remade in Tamil.” It’s not just in Tamil that stars are interested in the project. In fact, producer Vidhu Vinod Chopra had called Ram Charan Tej for a sneak preview of 3 Idiots before release and he liked it so much that he arranged a special screening of the film for his dad Chiranjeevi and uncle Pawan Kalyan.

But not everybody is convinced it will work commercially. Comments a leading Telugu producer, “It is very tough to remake 3 Idiots in Telugu or Tamil. Films with a soft nature don’t generally turn out to be blockbusters in these languages. Films that are action-oriented turn out to be blockbusters here.”