Janhvi Kapoor quietly kicked off the shoot of Mili at a bungalow in Mumbai last week. The project — an official adaptation of Anna Ben’s Helen (2019) — is close to her heart. After all, the film marks her first collaboration with producer-father Boney Kapoor. He may be miles away in Delhi, shooting for the Ranbir Kapoor-starrer, but the doting father is keeping himself updated about the goings-on of his production.

Mathukutty Xavier, who won the National Award for Best Debutant Director for the Malayalam survival thriller, has been entrusted the responsibility of the Hindi remake. “The project was to go on floors in June, but got delayed due to the lockdown. In the Mumbai schedule, the director will shoot the indoor scenes featuring the protagonist, her father and her boyfriend, as well as the sequences where she is trapped inside the freezer room. Boney is constantly in touch with Mathukutty,” reveals a trade source.

A trip to Dehradun is lined up for next month. “The protagonist works at a restaurant in the mall. Since malls are presently closed in Mumbai, they will can the scenes in the north Indian city.” 

Boney has also brought Ranjith Ambady, whose work in the original earned him the National Award for Best Make-up Artist, on board. He will handle the sequences that see Janhvi’s character suffering from hypothermia inside the freezer room.