Ranveer Singh’s next is a NZ$540m dystopian gamble.

Bollywood superstar Ranveer Singh has officially started shooting his next cinematic venture, Pralay. The film began production on live locations across Mumbai today. This project marks a massive pivot for the actor. He is moving from historical epics and mass action to a gritty, high-concept, post-apocalyptic zombie survival thriller.The film comes with immense pressure. It is Singh's immediate follow-up to the Dhurandhar duology. The second installment of that franchise recently became the highest-grossing Indian film of all time. It brought in a historic global box office haul equivalent to NZ$5.4 billion.Breaking Down the Massive NZ$540 Million BudgetPralay is one of the most expensive films in Indian cinema history. It has a staggering production budget of ₹300 crore, which translates to roughly NZ$540 million.The scale of this budget is driven by three major factors:

• International Technical Crew: The producers hired acclaimed cinematographer Juan Carlos Gil, famous for his atmospheric work on Narcos, to oversee the visual style.

• Practical Effects and Prosthetics: The team is collaborating with top-tier international VFX and makeup studios to create terrifying, realistic practical zombie effects rather than relying solely on digital animation.

• Complex Location Shooting: Production moved from initial plans in Australia back to live locations in Mumbai. Shutting down and securing major urban areas in India's most populous city requires massive logistical and financial deployment.

A Gritty Pivot in GenreDirector Jai Mehta, who earned critical acclaim for Scam 1992 and Lootere, spent years developing the screenplay alongside writer Vishal Kapoor. According to co-producer Hansal Mehta, the project aims to completely reinvent how the horror-survival genre is treated in mainstream Indian cinema.Instead of campy tropes or comedic horror, Pralay is described as a grounded, morally complex human drama. The narrative focuses on the psychological collapse of society during a sudden viral outbreak. It stars South Indian actress Kalyani Priyadarshan in a pivotal role alongside Singh.The film also marks a business milestone for the lead actor. Singh is officially serving as a producer on the project under his banner, Maa Kasam Films. He is backing the movie alongside Ananya Birla’s Birla Studios and True Story Films.