Imtiaz Ali’s brother, Sajid Ali to direct an intense Laila-Majnu love story for Balaji

Sajid Ali

By Kanika Rajani

After helming Banana, a high school drama, film-maker Imtiaz Ali’s brother Sajid Ali will be directing a romantic film for Balaji Motion Pictures. The love story will be set in Kashmir. “It’s a classic, intense Laila Majnu story. Though I don’t know how close I will get to it, I would like to contemporise it,” said Ali as he described his upcoming project’s theme which is still in the scripting stages.
The director dismissed any speculation of the film being a love story between a Hindu and Muslim, or a romance between a soldier and a Kashmiri, citing it as a regular story. While the actors are yet to be finalised, the director is looking for, ‘a younger, approximately 27-year-old man and a 24-year-old girl’.
“The idea stemmed from Imtiaz and I am currently working on it. My sister-in-law Preeti Ali is producing it with Balaji Motion Pictures,” said Ali.
His first film Banana stars a host of newcomers including Zeishan Qadri who wrote the dialogues for Gangs of Wasseypur. Produced by John Abraham Entertainment, the film is currently in post-production and is likely to release in April next year.