He is yet to make his Bollywood debut (in Karan Johar’s Student Of The Year) but model-turned-actor Siddharth Malhotra is already making waves. How else would you explain producer Ekta Kapoor roping him in even before his first film releases for a two-film deal? “Yes, Siddharth has been signed by Ekta. She is very impressed with his overall looks and talent. According to her, he has the intensity of Ajay Devgan along with the looks of Akshay Kumar and Salman Khan. The first film with Siddharth, in all likelihood, will start next year,” says an insider.

Also, since Ekta and Karan are close friends, the deal became easier. “Ekta had called up Karan, and he is always happy when any of his finds get such good offers. He knows that Ekta would use Siddharth’s talent in the best way,” adds the insider. A few days ago, Karan had told HT: “I am proud of all three (Siddharth, Varun Dhawan and Alia Bhatt), and would be proud if they get signed up for some good films outside our banner (Dharma Productions).” SOTY will release on October 19.

Ekta’s banner is yet to take a call on the film that will feature Siddharth. “We are doing a number of films with many directors. We need to look closely at which film Siddharth can be the best fit for, and also keep in mind what he would like to do next in his career. There’s still some time to go to finalise what films he would be part of. But it will happen sometime early next year. Nothing is finalised as of now,” adds the insider.