Ronnie Screwvala is all set to return to film production with his upcoming project titled Love Per Square Foot.
The film is being directed by Anand Tiwari, who has co-written the script with Sumeet Vyas, the breakout star of the web series Permanent Roommates.
Screwvala, who was founder-chairman of the UTV group, produced several successful films like Rang De Basanti (2006) under the UTV Motion Pictures banner. He left the company, which was bought over by Disney India, in 2014. Thereafter, for the past three years, he was focusing on his sports franchises and philanthropic activities.
Love Per Square Foot is a romantic comedy about a young couple and their househunting adventures in Mumbai. Vicky Kaushal and Angira Dhar have been cast in the lead. Reports suggest that the shooting was wrapped up towards the end of January after a 50-day schedule. Screwvala hopes to release the film later this year.
The film also marks a first lead role in a romantic film for Kaushal. The actor, who earned plaudits for his breakthrough role in Masaan (2015) and followed it up with the dark Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016), is playing a fun character in this film. He will be paired opposite Dhar, who starred in the popular web series Bang Baaja Baraat, which was also directed by Anand Tiwari.
Tiwari himself was last seen in the film Charlie Kay Chakkar Mein (2015), and played Ajit Bannerjee in Dibakar Banerjee's Detective Byomkesh Bakshy! (2015).
About Love Per Square Foot, Kaushal said, “It’s a romantic story peppered with comedy about a boy and girl trying to find a house in Mumbai. I hadn’t been part of a happy film before this, so I had a ball shooting for this one. My character, Sanjay, is ambitious and street-smart."
The 28-year-old actor used to live in a 10x10 room in Malad before making his breakthrough in films. He currently lives in a sprawling apartment in Andheri.
The film was shot across Mumbai, from SoBo till beyond the suburb of Mira Road. It has also been shot extensively on real locations. Kaushal said, "What I found most intriguing is that the lifestyle and milieu changed every 10km. I remember shooting in the north of the city where there were many fishermen and nobody gave a damn about us. But shooting in Parel was a task as many people turned up to see us."
The actor added, "Anand is a Matunga boy himself and knows the city like the back of his hand."
Though Kaushal has been hailed as a talented actor, he has never been part of a comedy before. Speaking about his tryst with the film, he said, "To be honest, after every film that I do, I want the mental space to go on. After Masaan I was enjoying the intense space and after Raman Raghav, I felt aggression had its own charm."