Milan Talkies trailer: Love, movies and masala combine in this Ali Fazal-Shraddha Srinath meta film

With retro music remakes all the rage currently, the trailer to Tigmanshu Dhulia's Milan Talkies turns the clock back with its meta cinema references of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.

The fun, catchy trailer is a mash-up of several elements from 1980s masala films to the current 'caste' wars.

Directed by Dhulia, the film features Ali Fazal, Shraddha Srinath, Ashutosh Rana, Sanjai Mishra and Sikandar Kher.

The trailer begins with the iconic monologue of Dilip Kumar's Salim from Mughal-e-Azam (1960), performed on stage by Fazal's Annu at his theatre, Milan Talkies.

A film fanatic, Annu wants to be one of the best film directors in the country, much to the chagrin of his father (Dhulia himself).

True to his filmi nature, Annu also falls for a young woman (Shraddha Srinath) who belongs to the Panda community and faces the wrath of her father (Ashutosh Rana) and Sikander Kher.

Set in Lucknow, Dhulia's film captures the dreams, lives and struggles of Annu and his friends. With its retro vibe, the film seems to capture the sense of meta cinema that is inevitable with a film about the talkies.

Dhulia also builds it up with a wonderful song, 'Dhatt Teri Teri Zamaana', that has the rhythm of a song from a masala entertainer.

However, the trailer loses a bit of its vibe as it shifts into serious mode with Rana playing the hate-spewing leader driving a wedge between the young lovers. While Kher initially appears to be on Rana's side, the scenes of him celebrating the film seem to suggest he switches sides along the way.

Milan Talkies will be out in cinemas on 15 March. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch this film.

Update, 27 February 2019: The copy was re-edited to fix some errors and correct the title of a song.