Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 17, 2017)

Mirror (April 11) had earlier reported that Ronnie Screwvala, who in January 2014 had exited the media and entertainment company UTV, is back at the movies with a new production, Love Per Square Foot, directed by Anand Tiwari, featuring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar and gearing up for release later this year.

Mirror has now learnt that the 54-year-old filmmaker is following up the romcom with another production for which he has signed on Abhishek Bachchan and Irrfan Khan. The film marks the directorial debut of Akarsh Khurana, who has co-written the script with Hussain Dalal, ­ the writer behind the dialogues of Ayan Mukerji's Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani and Abhishek Varman's 2 States.

“It's a light-hearted comedy which will feature Abhishek and Irrfan as friends who, due to certain situations, are forced to take a road trip together. Both the actors loved the script and instantly agreed to be a part of it. The film is expected to roll early next year,“ informed a source close to the development.

While Abhishek was last seen in Sajid-Farhad's 2016 comedy Housefull 3, alongside Akshay Kumar and Riteish Deshmukh, Irrfan will next be seen in Saket Chaudhary's Hindi Medium, along side Saba Qamar. He has wrapped up shooting for Tanuja Chandra's untitled next and started work on Abhinay Deo's Raita, while Abhishek is rumoured to have green-lit several other projects, including Lefty, which will be produced under his own banner and directed by Prabhu Dheva.

Akarsh and Ronnie are currently scouting for a lead actress. “The makers want to cast a fresh face and auditions are currently underway,“ the source added.