It was announced earlier this year that Oscar-winning sound designer Resul Pookutty is making his directorial debut with a Hindi-language project. The film, titled Sarpakal and penned by Rang De Basanti writer Kamlesh Pandey, was set to on go floors with Amitabh Bachchan in the lead. Reports had mentioned that Amitabh had agreed to play the role of a Pakistani man after liking the peaceful messaging in Resul's script. However, owing to the worsening relationship between India and Pakistan over the Pulwama terror attack, the veteran actor has apparently decided to drop out of the project. 

Sarpakal features an international backdrop with actors from both India and abroad. The VFX-heavy film has been described to be on the lines of The Lord Of The Rings. 

Resul Pookutty won an Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing for Danny Boyle’s 2009 film, Slumdog Millionaire. He launched the production house, Le Penta Motion Pictures, in 2016. He also recently made his acting debut in The Sound Story.