Shriya Pilgaonkar replaces Kalki Koechlin in Haathi Mere Saathi

After the success of Mirzapur, Shriya Pilgaonkar steps into the shoes of Kalki Koechlin for Prabhu Soloman’s film ‘Haathi Mere Saathi' which stars Rana Dagupatti. This will be Shriya’s Tamil and Telugu debut where she will be seen playing the role of a journalist.

Shriya is already off to jungles of Kerala to shoot this trilingual drama since Kalki Koechlin couldn’t do the film owing to date issues. Shriya who made her Hindi film debut in Srk’s fan seems to have a great year ahead as she will also be seen in Anubhav Sinha’s upcoming film, Abhi Toh Party Shuru Hui Hai and a British series by Gurinder Chaddha.

Elaborating on the role, Shriya says, “I couldn’t be happier starting 2019 with this film. It’s my first time doing a trilingual which I’m excited about. It’ll be my Tamil and Telugu debut. I am thrilled to be a part of Haathi Mere Saathi. I play a journalist in the film who feels very strongly about a story and is trying to put it out there in spite of the pressure on her to not cover it. She is a rebel in her own right and wants to stand by the truth. Prabhu sir has such a grand vision for this film. I love Elephants and the subject of this film is very close to my heart too.”

Commenting on working alongside Rana Daggubatti she adds, “Rana is incredibly hardworking and his body of work is amazing. I am really excited to work with him!”

The "Fan" actress said she follows Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu cinema. "I feel like it churns out some of the most interesting and diverse content. For me, the story of the film is the most important and I have always wanted to explore working in other industries as well. It's a challenge of course, but I enjoy it. So yes, I would absolutely love to explore more films from the south as and when the opportunities present themselves," she said.

Produced by Eros Entertainment, Haathi Mere Saathi also stars Pulkit Samrat, Vishnu Vishal, Zoya Hussain in pivotal roles. The film will be releasing in Tamil, Telugu and Hindi with a different cast across languages but Rana, Zoya and Shriya will feature in all three language films.

Highlighting the man-animal relationship, it is a story inspired by true events and also pays a tribute to the 1971 classic film Haathi Mere Saathi starring Rajesh Khanna and Tanuja.