AR Rahman and Lijo Jose Pellissery join hands under Hansal Mehta’s banner for a love story unlike anything seen before
Backed by True Story Films and Amen Movie Monastery, the romantic drama blends Pellissery's daring vision with Rahman's musical soul, co-written by Karan Vyas.
Hansal Mehta teams up with Lijo Jose Pellissery and AR Rahman for a lyrical romantic drama.
Pooja Pillai is an entertainment journalist with Asian Media Group, where she covers cinema, pop culture, internet trends, and the politics of representation. Her work spans interviews, cultural features, and social commentary across digital platforms.
She began her reporting career as a news anchor, scripting and presenting stories for a regional newsroom. With a background in journalism and media studies, she has since built a body of work exploring how entertainment intersects with social and cultural shifts, particularly through a South Indian lens.
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Production houses confirm three-way collaboration between Mehta, Pellissery, and Rahman
Film currently in casting stage with shooting planned later this year
Pellissery's track record suggests an unconventional take on the romance genre
Rahman returns to work with Mehta after their Gandhi series collaboration
Project marks Pellissery's first major crossover into Hindi film circles
Wait, read that again. Hansal Mehta's production is backing a romantic drama from Lijo Jose Pellissery. And AR Rahman? He's building the entire soundscape for it. The combination feels almost unreal, right? It's like three separate rivers of filmmaking talent suddenly crashing into one project.
Hansal Mehta teams up with Lijo Jose Pellissery and AR Rahman for a lyrical romantic drama. Getty Images/goodadsmatter.com
What's the actual plot of this pellissery film?
They're keeping story details locked down tight. The official line calls it a "lyrical exploration of love," which sounds nice but means very little coming from a director known for chaotic chases and funeral processions that spiral into madness. The script comes from Pellissery and writer Karan Vyas. Given Pellissery's history, expect something raw and unpredictable rather than rose-tinted. His approach to human relationships typically involves peeling back layers until things get messy.
Look at their backgrounds. Mehta built his name on biographical dramas and sharp social commentary. Pellissery operates in his own cinematic universe where conventional rules do not apply. Rahman's involvement guarantees the music will be another character entirely. Sahil Saigal from Mehta's production company called it "momentous" and for once that does not sound like empty producer talk. This feels like one of those projects that could actually shift how Indian films get made.
No confirmed release window yet; these things take time, especially with directors as particular as Pellissery. The production houses involved are Mehta's True Story Films and Amen Movie Monastery. This also marks the second time Rahman and Mehta have worked together after finishing their Gandhi series, which premiered at Toronto last year.
Speaking at a business event, she basically said her village roots made it harder.
Directly named SRK, calling him a Delhiite with a convent education.
Threw "brutal honesty" out there as her secret weapon.
You can already imagine the social media frenzy this kicked off.
It's the latest salvo in the whole insider-outsider war that never ends.
Well, she's done it again. Kangana Ranaut, now MP, just reframed the entire Bollywood struggle debate with one comparison. At a recent industry gathering in Delhi, she got to talking about her success. And then she brought up Shah Rukh Khan. Not with nostalgia. She positioned her own journey from a no-name Himachal village as the tougher path against his, what she termed, convent-educated Delhi background, and it obviously sparked reactions online.
Kangana says coming from a small village and being brutally honest shaped her journey in Bollywood Getty Images
So what did she actually say?
Her exact words: "Why did I get so much success?" she asked the room. Classic Kangana, starting with a question she's about to answer herself. "There is probably nobody else who came from a village and got such success in the mainstream. You talk about Shah Rukh Khan. They are from Delhi, convent-educated. I was from a village that nobody would have even heard of, Bhamla." And the punchline is that she believes it's her "brutal honesty" that did the trick.
Kangana calls brutal honesty her secret weapon in the film industryGetty Images
Let's talk about these two different worlds
Look at the facts. Kangana. Bhamla. Left at 15 for Mumbai, a kid with no roadmap. Her fight in the industry is well-documented, every step a battle she talks about. Four National Awards though, that's huge. Then Shah Rukh. Delhi. Lost his parents young, sure. But he cut his teeth on TV, became a name before he even hit films. His Mumbai move in '91 led to... well, to being King Khan. Both stories are about making it from nothing. But nothing means different things depending on your postcode, apparently.
Shah Rukh Khan’s Delhi upbringing gets compared to Kangana’s village struggleGetty Images
And the fallout?
It's a mess online, obviously. You have one side cheering her on for saying the quiet part out loud: that a village girl with no English has a steeper hill to climb than a guy from the capital. Then the other side is just exhausted. They're saying it's a cheap shot, that it diminishes Khan's own loss and grind. Does this debate even go anywhere? It just seems to recycle every few months. But people click. They always click.
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