Tejas first look: Kangana Ranaut transforms into IAF pilot

Actor Kangana Ranaut, who has been shooting for her upcoming film "Thalaivi" for the past few months, has announced her next project. Titled "Tejas", the film will star the actor as an Indian Air Force pilot. The makers and Kangana's team shared the first look of the film as well.

Sharing a picture, the Instagram handle of Kangana's team wrote: "For all the brave hearted and strong headed women in Uniform who make sacrifices for our nation day in and day out .... Kangana to play an airforce pilot in her next , titled - TEJAS." The film will be produced by Ronnie Screwvala's RSVP Movies. The picture shows Kangana in IAF fatigues; her hair is neatly tied in a bun and she is wearing a pair of aviators. Kangana also has a helmet in her hand. Parked on the runway behind is a majestic fighter aircraft.

Kangana's last film, "Panga", could not create magic at the box office, despite a spirited performance by the actor and the rest of the team including Richa Chadha (who played her mentor), Neena Gupta and Punjabi singer-turned-actor Jassie Gill. The Hindustan Times review of the film said, "A sincere ode to motherhood and those countless sacrifices that a woman – as a mother and a wife — makes for her family, director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari's Panga presents the minutiae of our daily lives as compelling cinema. It is also the story of hope and how dreams don't come with an expiry date. Kangana's dialogue, 'Maa ko sapne dekhne ka haq nahi hota. Agar main fir bhi dekhti hoon to main selfish hoon. I'm a cruel mother,' resonates with you."

Irrespective of "Panga"s fate, Kangana was based in Chennai for the shoot of  "Thailavi". Pictures from her shoot of a dance sequence went viral. It showed Kangana striking a difficult Bharatnatyam pose. Kangana will be seen as the actor and former chief minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa. The film will also star Arvind Swamy as actor and later chief minister of the state MG Ramachandran.