Raaj Shaandilyaa, of Dream Girl (2019) and Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (2024) fame, is shifting gears from comedies to bring a real-life episode to screen. His next, titled The Verdict 498A, will chronicle the case of Deeptanshu Shukla, an engineer who was accused of dowry harassment and finally acquitted in 2016.

Through the film, Shaandilyaa wants to show how Section 498A of the Indian Penal Code—that criminalises cruelty by a husband or his relatives against a married woman—has sometimes been misused to create false dowry harassment cases, leading to broken families and wrongful imprisonments.