Siddharth Anand to direct 'Tiger vs Pathaan' for Yash Raj Films

Superstars Shah Rukh Khan and Salman Khan will be back as Pathaan and Tiger in a crossover film for Yash Raj Films' ambitious spy universe, say trade sources.

Conceptualised by YRF boss Aditya Chopra, the 'YRF Spy Universe' brings three franchises headlined by leading starsSalman's Tiger movies, Shah Rukh's Pathaan and Hrithik Roshan's War under one umbrella.

The studio's recent blockbuster Pathaan marked the beginning of the cinematic universe with a cameo by Salman as Avinash Singh Rathore aka Tiger.

It also had plenty of references to Hrithik's War character, Kabir Dhaliwal.

Titled Tiger vs Pathaan, the film will be directed by Siddharth Anand, who most recently helmed Shah Rukh-starrer Pathaan, which had a guest appearance by Salman as Tiger.

The new movie, which will be an action spectacle, will showcase a ruthless face-off between the two top stars of Hindi cinema, who earlier starred together in movies such as Karan Arjun and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.

The development comes days after reports that the studio has hired Brahmastra filmmaker Ayan Mukerji to direct the second installment of Hrithik's War. It was also widely reported RRR star Jr NTR will feature opposite Hrithik in War 2.

Pathaan, which also featured Deepika Padukone, John Abraham, Dimple Kapadia and Ashutosh Rana, was released in theatres worldwide in January. The film earned over Rs 1,000 crore at the global box office.

Salman will be back as Tiger in Tiger 3 which will see Shah Rukh reprise the role of Pathaan. The film scheduled to hit the screens this Diwali.