Harinder Sikka, whose ‘Calling Sehmat’ was adapted into the film ‘Raazi’, has acquired the movie rights of lawyer-entrepreneur Tarun Mehrishi’s debut novel ‘The Portrait of a Secret’.

Sikka and Mehrishi will now work together to finalize the script for the screen adaptation.

Published by Penguin India, ‘The Portrait of a Secret’ is the story of a patriot, who is faced with the impossible choice between self-preservation and duty, PTI reported.

Sikka said ‘The Portrait of a Secret’ seamlessly blends fiction with reality and genuinely lives up to the word ‘unputdownable’.

 “The first time I read it, I could immediately see that the story held tremendous potential for screen and I am glad that we will be able to work together to mount the project at the scale that it deserves. Our authors deserve more than what they get today and this partnership will mark our first step in that direction,” he said.

Protagonist Amitabh has spent a career battling India’s enemies, domestic and foreign, and now, in the winter of his illustrious career, as India’s chief of intelligence, he is faced with his most daunting challenge yet – averting a nuclear strike against his homeland that he knows very little about – except that it is coming.

As Indian intelligence brings all of its resources to bear to uncover the truth, Amitabh’s path crosses that of Kamal’s, a senior IAS officer who has been investigating the theft of two priceless paintings from India and working to apprehend their thief. Their worlds collide as each realizes that the other holds the key to accomplishing their missions.

Even as they begin to work together, the paintings reveal a secret that was thought to have been lost in the fires of partition.