Nil Battey Sannata film maker Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari took over the reins from Sameer Sharma for Aanand L Rai's Manmarziyan following irrevocable creative differences between the producer and the former director after Sameer had canned a monthlong schedule in North India in February. Ashwiny reached Punjab for a recce on Friday, shooting will resume after the rains and all the earlier portions will be reshot. “I loved the script, Kanika (Dhillon) has written a beautiful story. I won't be making any changes there but I will add my own perspective as a filmmaker,“ asserts the new director.

Is there any added pressure since she's taken over a project from someone else? Ashwiny admits that she is definitely nervous about starting a new project, but there's no added pressure. “I am treating this film as a new project,“ she explains. The recce is to understand the milieu in which the film is based, the lifestyle of the characters, how they talk, where they live, among other things. So she will be spending a week in Punjab scouting for an apt location. “I do my own research and make notes before going on floors,“ she adds.

The film features Ayushmann Khurrana and Bhumi Pednekar who lost over 15 kg since her debut in a 2015 romcom, in the lead. Bhumi had admitted to Mirror (October 23, 2015) that she has turned into a Punjabi overnight for this film. She's learnt the language, has been listening to Punjabi music and eating Punjabi food.

After a heart-warming mother-daughter social, Ashwiny is kicked about exploring the romcom genre for the first time and has had meetings with the actors and will soon conduct some workshops with them to help them get into their characters before going back on the sets. Prod her on Sameer and she says, “I don't know anything about what transpired between him and the producer. On my part we will start from scratch.“