Filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is reviving his 1983 classic, Masoom, for the new audience in a new way, with Masoom: The Next Generation. Veteran actors Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi have already been confirmed to be reprising their roles from the original film, and now HT City has exclusively learnt that another original cast member has come on board — Jugal Hansraj, who played Rahul, Naseeruddin Shah's onscreen son.

Jugal Hansraj made his acting debut as a child actor with Masoom alongside actor Urmila Matondkar. He played the innocent Rahul, whose entry into a typical family changes its dynamics forever. More than four decades after the film's release, Hansraj is now reuniting with his first director, Shekhar Kapur, as well as Shah and Azmi.

Speaking about the reunion, Kapur tells us, “There is something profoundly beautiful about coming home, not to a place, but to a story that has stayed alive in people's hearts for decades. Jugal was just a young boy when we made Masoom, and today, welcoming him back as an accomplished actor is both emotional and deeply fulfilling. Reuniting him with Naseer and Shabana is a reminder that some relationships transcend cinema. As we begin this new chapter, I hope audiences experience the same honesty, tenderness, and emotional truth that made Masoom so enduring.”

Hansraj resonates with the sentiment as he shares that he felt so happy when Kapur called him to offer the new film.

“Masoom has been a part of my life, my identity, for as long as I can remember. Even after all these years, I’m still that ‘Masoom boy.’ It’s been more than 40 years since the film was released, but people still remember the film with so much affection. I constantly get stopped by people even here in New York, and I’m told with a warm smile that their kids or grandkids listen to ‘lakdi ki kathi’. They meet me like I’m a member of their own family. I’m glad that I can be a part of this special family again. It’s like life coming full circle,” he shares with us.

Masoom: The Next Generation is a spiritual sequel to Masoom and will explore changing family dynamics, identity, and relationships across generations. Apart from the three actors, the film will also feature an ensemble cast including Manoj Bajpayee, Nithya Menen, and Kapur's daughter, Kaveri Kapur. Composer A R Rahman has come on board to compose the music and co-produce the project.

It has taken Shabana Azmi, Naseeruddin Shah, and filmmaker Shekhar Kapur forty-two years to reunite for a project after their classic Masoom (1983). But now that they have teamed up, things are moving swiftly on Masoom: The Next Generation, the sequel to the 1983 film. Azmi has begun workshops for the drama, which will also star Manoj Bajpayee, and Shekhar’s daughter Kaveri Kapur.

“Shekhar wishes the actors to improvise a lot, and workshops are currently on between Kaveri and me,” shares Azmi, who is looking forward to the creatively stimulating experience of shooting with Shah and Shekhar.

“The script is about the search for identity, which Shekhar has been haunted by for as long as I’ve known him. My character has been inspired by his nani. There are scenes between Kaveri and me that are straight out of Shekhar’s memories,” she says. With Masoom: The Next Generation, the filmmaker will explore the idea of what home means to different generations.

Azmi, who will play Kaveri’s grandmother in the movie, will sport a distinct look. Adopting a particular look for each character is a step towards embracing the part, believes the veteran actor. “The focus on looking good in a prescribed way works to the character’s detriment. At the end of the day, inhabiting a character’s world is about finding the soul,” she states.

While she is particular about her on-screen looks, she is irked by the practice of actors’ off-screen appearances being scrutinised in the name of fashion. “Why is there so much emphasis on which designer one chooses to wear? The obsession the paps have with singling out how much a bag or a pair of sunglasses costs is loathsome,” she states.

In 1983, Shekhar Kapur stirred emotions with Masoom, starring Naseeruddin Shah, Shabana Azmi, Urmila Matondkar, and Jugal Hansraj. Now, almost 42 years later, the filmmaker is making the sequel, Masoom: The Next Generation, set in Mumbai. He plans to shoot the film in a start-to-finish schedule. While not a direct continuation of the 1983 film, the sequel also explores familial relationships. Kapur, this year’s recipient of the Padma Bhushan, shares that the film will delve into what a home represents—love, relationships, memories, and identities.

“We will begin shooting in the next couple of months. I am recording all five songs composed by [husband-wife duo Nirali Kartik and Kartik Shah’s] band Maati Baani. Their [music] is folksy and Indian with a modern touch. I have to compete with my songs in [the original] Masoom,” he smiles.

He adds that the unit will build the set in Mumbai once he completes the music sessions. “It’s a very performance-oriented film, and I don’t want to push my actors. I want to give them space to discover the film and their characters. We will, of course, do workshops and weeks of rehearsals before we begin shooting. The first schedule will start with the entire cast—Shabana, Naseer, Manoj Bajpayee, Nithya Menen, and Kaveri [Kapur; his daughter].”

The director further explains that while Shabana and Naseer portray 80-year-olds, “Kaveri plays the daughter of an Indian father and an American mother.” “I started writing this film a decade ago, based on my experiences and my parents, who wanted to build a home in Delhi,” he shares.