MUMBAI: The remake of the Salman Khan-starrer Dabaang in Tamil and Telugu is finally taking off.

While Silambarasan (Simbu) will essay the role of Chulbul Pandey in the Tamil film, Pavan Shankar will star in the Telugu remake.Similarly, director Dharani will helm the yet untitled Tamil film while Harish Shankar will direct the Telugu remake.

On the production side, the Tamil remake will be produced by Balaji Studios’ Mohan Apparao and T Ramesh while Pavan Shankar’s banner Creative Works will produce the Telugu version titled Gabbar Singh. Both Kalyan and Shankar are now engaged in the work of selecting the crew for the film.

As far as the heroines are concerned, Sarah-Jane Dias who made her Hindi film debut in Game recently is likely to play the female lead in the Telugu version, while the leading lady for the Tamil version is in a limbo what with Sonam Kapoor backing out of the project.

Buzz was that Kapoor was seriously considering the role but her star-father Anil Kapoor advised her not to look to the South or Hollywood but concentrate on Bollywood at the moment. Hence she had to turn down the offer.