From the time Kareena Kapoor Khan and Hansal Mehta announced their collaboration, one wondered what the marriage of the two cinematic sensibilities would look like—she, the face of blockbusters, and he, the voice behind hard-hitting stories. Now, the result is for all to see. The Buckingham Murders (TBM) is a moody thriller that is as much a story of a mother’s loss as it is a whodunit.

We begin our conversation with the director, asking if he has thought of a sequel to TBM. A story where Kareena’s detective Jasmeet Bhamra takes on another case, perhaps? “The reports of TBM are encouraging. So, maybe we can come together again. I already have a prequel in mind for Jasmeet. It’s an origin story of how she became who she is today,” says Mehta.

So, will it see the trio of Mehta, Kareena and Ektaa R Kapoor reunite? “Of course. They own the IP.”

IP or not, the director would love to team up with the actor-producer duo again. Shooting the gritty thriller with them was a deeply satisfying affair, he says.

One would think that convincing Kareena for the film was tough, but Mehta says, “Ektaa introduced me to Kareena. She was on board the moment she read the film’s treatment. It was a delight to work with her. Kareena is an instinctive actor, who doesn’t take her talent too seriously. That’s why there is a lightness of touch when she performs. It’s a complicated part, but she did it with sensitivity.”

Making it a Hinglish affair was a leap of faith on the makers’ part. While they ran the risk of alienating a section of the audience, on the upside, they remained true to its UK setting.

“The original story that Aseem Arora had written was set in the UK. I was clear that if the story is set there, it has to be truthful to its world. Often, we make Hindi movies in the UK where all the characters are speaking in Hindi. It feels fake to me. I wanted the experience to be authentic and Ektaa agreed with me.”  

From Shahid (2012) to Aligarh (2015), from Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020) to Scoop (2023), Mehta’s filmography is built on a foundation of brave stories. But the director admits there is something missing from his résumé. “I keep telling my writers to give me a love story. It’s an unfulfilled desire to make an epic love story—something like Doctor Zhivago [1965].”

What would be a fitting film to continue Vikrant Massey’s golden run after 12th Fail (2023)? Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s directorial venture, one of the finest Indian movies of 2023 and a sleeper hit, is a tough act to follow. But it looks like Massey has found another powerful story, this time with producer Ektaa R Kapoor. The duo have teamed up for a political thriller titled The Sabarmati Report.

Beginning with the real-life episode of the burning of the Sabarmati Express in 2002, the movie then focuses on two journalists who investigate the incident and the cause of the fire. While Massey and Raashii Khanna play the reporters, we hear Ridhi Dogra—recently seen in Jawan (2023)—portrays a negative role.

On February 27, 2002, 59 Hindu pilgrims returning from Ayodhya were killed in a fire in the four coaches of the Sabarmati Express near the Godhra railway station in Gujarat. The incident led to one of the worst communal riots in Gujarat.

A source from the creative team reveals, “While The Sabarmati Report is based on the burning of the Sabarmati Express, the makers have completely stayed away from the Gujarat riots. Ektaa and director Ranjan Chandel, who previously helmed the acclaimed Grahan [2021], want to treat the subject with utmost sensitivity. When co-producer Amul Mohan and writer Aseem Arora first narrated the story to Ektaa, she was moved and told them that it was the best political thriller she had come across in years. Aseem’s story is loosely based on real-life incidents. It plays out over a decade, from 2002 to 2012.”

We hear Chandel took the film on floors in Ahmedabad on December 17 last year. The director has charted out a start-to-finish schedule.

“It was always planned as a 36-day schedule. Currently, the film is being shot near Madh Island, where life-size trains and the Godhra railway station have been recreated by art director Rajat Poddarr and his production design team. Chandel has chosen Amlendu Choudhury to serve as the director of photography.”