'Tere Ishk Mein' will have a 'similar heartbeat' as 'Raanjhaana': Anand L. Rai

Mumbai, June 28

A decade after his big hit "Raanjhaana", and despite the dud he delivered in the Akshay Kumar-starrer "Raksha Bandhan", director-producer Anand L. Rai is coming back to the big screen with his upcoming film “Tere Ishk Mein.”

A Hindu-Muslim social drama, "Raanjhaana" was the Hindi debut of Tamil star Dhanush. It is now coming back again -- not with a similar story, but with a "similar heartbeat", as Rai put it in an interview with 'Variety' -- in "Tere Ishk Mein."

Though he has kept most of the plot details under wraps, Rai told 'Variety': "When we were working on the ‘Tere Ishk Mein’ script, we realised that we are catching on to the same aggression. And in terms of genre, it's falling in that genre of tragedy and I said, it's actually belonging to that world."

"They’re not similar stories, but they have a similar heartbeat. We were getting the same feeling what we were getting when we were working on "Raanjhanaa". I said, let's start belonging to that world."

"Tere Ishk Mein" will be filmed partly in Varanasi where "Ranjhaana" was also shot, though the majority of the movie will be shot elsewhere.

Rai will work with A.R. Rahman on the project. The two last collaborated in the film "Atrangi Re", which also starred Dhanush.

Speaking to 'Variety', the filmmaker said he didn't want to tie the experience of working with the composer to a brief or a story.

"I want to indulge more when I have a big talent like A.R. Rahman, because it's so much of learning and especially when you are going for a love story, you're talking about something as pure as a man-woman relationship -- it's so beautiful to see him grow with time," Rai said.

"Even I'm stopping myself by giving him the situation of the songs," Rai told 'Variety'. "As a creative team, let's talk about the story and see what melodies come in rather than me telling him that I need something like this. Let's explore the entire world of "Tere Ishk Mein"."