Mumbai: Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur has signed on "Hasee Toh Phasee" director Vinil Mathew for a dramatic thriller inspired by true events.   Also on board the forthcoming project, to be produced by Roy Kapur Films banner, is "Udta Punjab" fame writer Sudip Sharma.   The movie is based on a true story of merchant navy officer Audumbar Bhoi, whose ship and a crew were attacked by Somalian pirates.   

Talking about the film, Siddharth said, "The film is based on true events involving piracy on the Somalian high seas and is told through the eyes of a young Indian merchant navy officer, who has to navigate through unimaginably perilous circumstances while dealing with huge personal challenges.   "It is a thrilling, dramatic and emotional journey, and we couldn't have asked for a better director than Vinil Mathew to tell this story... To have Sudip on board as a screenwriter for the film is a huge advantage, as he unfailingly creates memorable characters..."   Vinil said he had been looking forward to working with Siddharth and he grabbed the opportunity with both hands.   

"... When Siddharth shared this story with me, I instinctively knew I had to be associated with the film as it had all the right ingredients of emotion, drama and thrill," he said.   Sudip, who has earlier worked with the renowned producer, said he is generally wary of writing commissioned scripts for makers, Siddharth allows "a lot of creative freedom". "We've been meaning to work again with each other since, and when he pitched this story to me, I just jumped at it because it has the potential to be a tense hostage drama cum survival story, and lets you explore Somalia and maritime piracy, a world hitherto unseen in Hindi films," he added.   

The director-writer duo has researched on the Indian merchant navy life, as well as on the Somali piracy issue and its impact on the affected Indian families over the past few months.   The film is expected to roll out in the second half of next year.