The filmmaker’s first production in three years is a romcom featuring Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 11, 2017)

Ronnie Screwvala, who in January 2014 exited the media and entertainment company UTV which he had founded in 1990, is back at the movies with a new production. Titled Love Per Square Foot, the film is directed by Anand Tiwari, who co-wrote the script with Permanent Roommates breakout star Sumeet Vyas. The romcom features Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar as the leads. It wrapped up towards the end of January after a 50-day schedule and Ronnie hopes to release the film later this year.

After Neeraj Ghaywan’s critically acclaimed directorial debut, Masaan, and Anurag Kashyap’s dark drama about a psycho killer, Raman Raghav 2.0, for the first time, Vicky is playing a fun character in an entertaining film. “It’s a romantic story peppered with comedy about a boy and girl trying to find a house in Mumbai. I hadn’t been a part of a happy film before this so I had a ball shooting for this one. My character, Sanjay, is ambitious and street-smart,” says the 28-year-old actor as he reminisces about his own family graduating from a 10x10 room in Malad to a one BHK, followed by a two BHK and, finally, their present sprawling apartment in Andheri.

The film was shot across Mumbai, from SoBo till beyond the suburbs of Mira Road. It is almost entirely shot on real locations. “What I found most intriguing is that the lifestyle and milieu changed every 10 km. I remember shooting in the North of the city where there were many fishermen and nobody gave a damn about us. But shooting in Parel was a task as many people turned up to see us. Anand is a Matunga boy himself and knows the city like the back of his hand,” the actor informs.

Now that his repertoire boasts of a fun film to offset the bleakness of his previous hits, can he say he likes playing one kind of character over the other? “To be honest, after every film that I do, I want the mental space to go on. After Masaan I was enjoying the intense space and after Raman Raghav 2.0, I felt aggression had its own charm,” Vicky says.

Mirror (February 27) had earlier reported that Bombay Talkies directors, Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap, Zoya Akhtar and Dibakar Banerjee, would reunite for another as-yet-untitled project, similar in format but not a sequel to the 2013 anthology film. It will be produced by Ronnie and Ashi Dua. However, so far only Zoya is ready with her short film.