Miss World 2017 Manushi Chillar is making her Bollywood debut opposite Akshay Kumar in the upcoming film "Prithviraj".

Directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, "Prithviraj" is based on the life and heroism of the fearless king Prithviraj Chauhan. It stars superstar Akshay as Prithviraj while Manushi will play the role of the Sanyogita, the love of his life.

Dwivedi said: "We auditioned a lot of young, fresh faces for the role because we were looking for a stunningly gorgeous Indian heroine. While Sanyogita was an incredibly beautiful person, she was also a strong, confident girl. We were looking to find someone who could match the magnetic persona of Sanyogita and we found that in Manushi."

The director said that Manushi auditioned "for the role a couple of times".

"We wanted to be dead sure with this casting and she nailed it each time. She has been rehearsing six days a week since then and is being thoroughly groomed for the last nine months by Yash Raj Films (YRF)."

Manushi said her life so far has been a fairy tale and she is now looking forward to her big debut.

"I'm thoroughly happy and thrilled about the learnings that I will have through this journey. My life, so far, has really been a fairy tale. From becoming Miss India and then Miss World to now getting such a big project as my debut film, it's like a new, exciting chapter of my life," she said.

Manushi finds it a "huge responsibility" to play princess Sanyogita.

"She was a powerful personality and she stood up for what is right and took the most important decisions of her life by herself. Her life is an extremely important chapter in Indian history and I will try my best to play her as accurately as possible," she added.

"Prithviraj" is being made by Yash Raj Films. The movie is being directed by Chandraprakash Dwivedi, who directed the television epic "Chanakya". It will release on Diwali 2020.