Janhvi, Sreeleela, Siddharth begin Umesh Bist’s Nainital thriller

The cameras are rolling in Uttarakhand. Janhvi Kapoor, Sreeleela and Siddharth Gupta have begun the first schedule of Umesh Bist’s untitled romantic thriller in Nainital, with Balaji Motion Pictures and Sikhya Entertainment producing.

Three actors, one high-stakes triangle

The film’s central hook is simple and immediate. As per Variety India, the story follows two women who are obsessed with the same man—a premise that pushes a familiar love triangle into darker, more suspenseful territory. The makers have not yet opened up the characters or plot beyond that outline.

That logline is enough to explain the casting chatter. Janhvi brings a Hindi film audience built across films such as Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Mili and Ulajh. Sreeleela arrives with strong buzz around her upcoming Hindi debut. Siddharth, who was recently seen in Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart, gets a title that places him at the centre of the fixation.

Nainital is more than a backdrop

The location choice matters. For Janhvi, the region is familiar: she shot Mili and Roohi there. For Siddharth, the schedule is a return to his home state. Misty hill towns have long served Bollywood thrillers well, and the Nainital setting suggests the film will lean on atmosphere as much as attraction.

The production house pairing is also noteworthy. Ektaa Kapoor’s Balaji Motion Pictures and Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment have different strengths—commercial genre energy on one side, festival-honed storytelling on the other. Together they are backing a film that aims to turn an intimate obsession into a big-screen thriller.

Who is making what next

Umesh Bist has moved between films and streaming: his credits include Pagglait, The Trial Season 2, Gyaarah Gyaarah and Kaun? Who Did It?. Alongside this thriller, he is also directing a Pagglait sequel with Sanya Malhotra returning in the lead.

For the cast, the schedules are already crowded:

• Janhvi Kapoor: next up is the romantic revenge drama Lag Jaa Gale with Tiger Shroff and Lakshya, directed by Raj Mehta and due in theatres on May 14, 2027.
• Sreeleela: is preparing for her Hindi debut in Anurag Basu’s untitled musical with Kartik Aaryan, backed by T-Series and scheduled for April 30, 2027.
• Siddharth Gupta: recently appeared in Krishnavataram Part 1: The Heart, and now steps into this Nainital thriller.

There is no title and no release date yet, so the next real checkpoint will be an official announcement from the producers. Until then, the film already has what every romantic thriller needs: a triangle, a secretive setting and two leads whose fixation is the plot.

Source: The Times of India