KATHMANDU: Actor Pradeep Khadka has started shooting his upcoming action film Airi from the Dhorpatan Valley in western Baglung. Along with Pradeep, Chum Darang and Sonam began filming on Wednesday. Dhiraj Magar and Bhutanese actor Sangay Tsheltrim are expected to join the shoot next week.

Bollywood actress Chum Darang, who gained recognition from the latest season of India’s popular TV reality show Bigg Boss hosted by Salman Khan is making her debut in Nepali cinema through this film. She will be seen opposite Pradeep Khadka in lead role. The team plans to shoot in Dhorpatan for 50 days. After that, filming will continue in Kathmandu and India. During the shoot, Pradeep is also expected to travel to France for a few days to attend the Cannes Film Festival, where his upcoming film Eklo will be pitched at the Cannes Market.

Airi is directed by Jeevan Thapa. The shooting is under process in the forests of the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve. As the film is produced in a Himalayan environment, the actors are learning horse riding and archery to present the local culture in a realistic way. The shoot is expected to last around three months, and the post-production especially visual effects (VFX) will take approximately eight months, making the total production time about one year.

The film is being produced by director Thapa’s equipment company, Multimate, in collaboration with an Indian distributor. Airi will be made in both Nepali and Hindi, and it is expected to be dubbed into several regional languages.