Yami Gautam, Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna to headline Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s investigative drama Lost

Yami Gautam, Pankaj Kapur, Rahul Khanna are part of an ensemble cast that will star in Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury’s next film, an investigative drama titled Lost.

The director's last Hindi film, Pink (2016), starred Amitabh Bachchan, Taapsee Pannu and Kirti Kulhari. Zee Studios is partnering with Namah Pictures to produce this project, which will be “centred around media and integrity”.

The film will be set in Kolkata and Gautam will be playing the lead character, a feisty crime reporter. Joining Gautam, Kapur and Khanna are actors Neil Bhoopalam, Tushar Pandey and actress Pia Bajpiee.

Gautam, who married theNational award-winning filmmaker Aditya Dhar last month, is currently awaiting the release of her horror comedy Bhoot Police (2021) on Disney+ Hotstar in September. She also has the films Dasvi and A Thursday lined up.

The film also marks Kapur and Khanna's return to Hindi cinema. Kapur, whose last big-screen film was Shaandaar (2015) opposite his son Shahid Kapoor, last appeared in the Zee5 digital film Toba Tek Singh in 2018. Kapur and Shahid are working together again in the upcoming Hindi remake of the Telugu hit Jersey (2019) starring Nani.

Khanna, meanwhile, was last seen in Deepa Mehta's Netflix series Leila (2019) starring Huma Qureshi. His last Hindi film was Fireflies (2013) directed by Sabal Singh Shekhawat.

In a statement Roy Chowdhury said, “Designed as an investigative drama, at its core, the film explores themes like commitment, responsibility, holding hands and making our world beautiful and compassionate. For me, it's important that any film I make should have a social context and that the stories are taken from the world around us. Lost is an emotional thriller that represents a higher quest, a search for lost values of empathy and integrity.”

The director made his Hindi debut with Pink and has since worked on the Zee5 digital series Parchayee: Ghost Stories by Ruskin Bond and Zee5 anthology film Forbidden Love (2020).

Zee Studios’ Shariq Patel said that the studio was pleased to collaborate with Namah Pictures for Lost. He said of the upcoming film, “It's a tightly knit script that will keep you hooked till the end. We are confident that Aniruddha will create a masterpiece with his skills and Yami will be a delight to watch in this role. The film will resonate with everyone and highlight important social issues of current times.”

Namah Pictures’ Shareen Mantri Kedia also spoke of the upcoming partnership. She said, “To be able to tell a story that's engaging, riveting and relatable is what we aim for and this film ticks all those boxes. With Aniruddha helming the direction, Yami headlining an interesting ensemble of actors and sharp writing by Shyamal Sengupta and Ritesh Shah, this surely will be a thrilling journey.”

Produced by Zee Studios, Kishor Arora and Shareen Mantri Kedia, Sam Fernandes, and Indrani Mukherjee, Lost is expected to go on the floors later this month.