Ektaa R Kapoor Teams Up With Amar Butala and Sajid Khan for a Horror Film, Title Reveal on 13 November
The phrase hat-trick began on a cricket field. As the story is usually told, it dates to 1858, when the English bowler HH Stephenson took three wickets with three consecutive balls and was presented with a hat bought from a collection among spectators. The term has since wandered into football, into politics and, inevitably, into the language of the box office.
It is the phrase now attached to Ektaa R Kapoor, who is preparing what her team describes as a theatrical hat-trick.
The announcement
Kapoor is joining forces with producer Amar Butala and director Sajid Khan for a new film. Its title is being held back until 13 November.
What has been confirmed is the genre. Kapoor is returning to horror, a space she revisited this year with Bhooth Bangla.
The collaborators bring distinct track records:
Amar Butala has produced several commercial successes, including Bajrangi Bhaijaan, Kesari and Mission Majnu.
Sajid Khan is known for broad commercial entertainers such as Heyy Babyy and the Housefull franchise.
Kapoor brings long experience in mounting mainstream entertainment for both television and cinema.
The makers are positioning it as a "never-seen-before experience". That is a claim every announcement makes, of course, and one that only the finished film can test.
The year that preceded it
The context matters. Kapoor has had two notable theatrical outings in 2026.
Bhooth Bangla, starring Akshay Kumar and directed by Priyadarshan, took audiences back to horror-comedy. The Vvaan, starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia, drew on folklore and the supernatural in a rooted Indian setting.
What the two films share is more interesting than their success. Neither leaned on an existing franchise. At a time when much of the industry treats sequels as the safest bet, Kapoor's slate has been an argument that genre, handled with confidence, can stand on its own.
Why this pairing is intriguing
Sajid Khan's cinema has been built largely on comedy. Horror is a different discipline: it depends on restraint, timing and the management of silence, qualities that comedy sometimes sacrifices for momentum. Yet the two genres have a long and productive history together in Hindi cinema, and the horror-comedy has become one of the more reliable formats of recent years.
Whether this film leans towards fright or laughter, or attempts both, is the first question the title reveal may begin to answer.
For now, the more measured observation is this: a producer coming off two theatrical releases in one year has chosen to stay with genre rather than retreat into the familiar. In an industry that often mistakes caution for strategy, that is worth noting.
For more on how this year's big releases have performed, read our analysis of Ramayana's six-day run.
This article draws on information shared by the producers' publicists.
Frequently asked questions
When will the title of Ektaa Kapoor's film with Sajid Khan be revealed?
The makers have said the title will be announced on 13 November 2026.
What genre is the new Ektaa Kapoor, Amar Butala and Sajid Khan film?
It is a horror film, according to the makers.
Who is directing the film?
Sajid Khan, known for Heyy Babyy and the Housefull franchise.
Kenneth Hopkins is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of AltBollywood. Indofuturist, posthumanist and unapologetically Indocentric, he describes himself as an epimemeticist, a swaraji, a freakonomist, a lexicographer and a cartochronicler, mapping the ideas, words and quiet shifts that shape Indian entertainment. Follow him on Instagram at @kennethhopkins.
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