Filmmaker Tigmanshu Dhulia’s upcoming love story finally kicks off in the city next week after six years
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 17, 2018)

Mirror (February 5) had earlier reported that after last year’s sleeper hit, Fukrey Returns, and Victoria & Abdul, his Judi Dench-starrer period drama, which bagged two Oscar nominations, Ali Fazal had been roped in to play the lead in Tigmanshu Dhulia’s romantic drama, Milan Talkies. The 31-year-old actor starts shooting in Lucknow next week.

“I have shot in Lucknow only once briefly for the Shah Rukh (Khan) produced Always Kabhi Kabhi with Giselli Monteiro. I’m happy we will be filming Milan Talkies extensively in my hometown. Tigmanshu sir knows more eating joints than I do in my own city,” he says, adding that the other day when the conversation veered towards biryani his director named an eatery even before he could think of it.

Ali has promised the team that his grandmother will treat them to Lucknowi khana every few days. “She’s looking forward to it,” he says, adding that he’s excited to work with Tigmanshu. “I was always a fan of his work and for some reason the title of Milan Talkies was stuck in my mind for the last three-four years. The film has been in the news longer than that though,” he points out.

He recalls a meeting with the filmmaker a few years ago when he congratulated him on his National Award-winning biopic, Paan Singh Tomar. “I had enquired about the status of Milan Talkies then and today I’m excited to be a part of his pet project,” Ali says.

The film is a love story, which originates in a small town where both he and his leading lady Shraddha Srinath are college students. Their love grows as life goes on. “It’s a beautiful script, I’ve done several readings with Tigmanshu sir over Skype during my Los Angeles trip last month. We have been constantly exchanging notes. They start shooting from Monday or Tuesday and I will join them soon after,” informs Ali who is working on his Allahabadi accent and is losing all his muscles. “It breaks my heart to lose them,” he says.

Ask him if anything has changed in the script over the years and he insists it hasn’t. “That’s the best part of this script, it works anytime, every time. Apart from maybe logistics here and there, everything remains the same,” Ali says.