Saif and Vidya Reunite After 19 Years for Long Years Ago

Ritesh Batra is returning to the kind of emotionally guarded family storytelling that made The Lunchbox a global favourite, this time with Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and French actor Mélanie Laurent. His new film, Long Years Ago, has now started filming and is set in Mumbai in 1991.

Saif and Vidya, back in the same frame

The casting brings Saif Ali Khan and Vidya Balan back together after 19 years. Produced by Jio Studios under Jyoti Deshpande, the project is a family comedy-drama that will be shot largely in Mumbai.

Batra said he was honoured to work with the three actors and to see them bring characters ‘so close to my heart’ to life. Saif Ali Khan said he connected with the story from the beginning and called it a deeply moving story. Vidya Balan, meanwhile, had wanted to work with Batra ever since watching The Lunchbox.

A family that stopped talking

According to Deadline, Long Years Ago centres on a family that has spent years avoiding important conversations. The drama comes from what happens when its members are finally forced to express feelings they have kept to themselves.

That is familiar terrain for Batra. In The Lunchbox, he built a whole relationship out of notes left in a tiffin, and in Photograph he again found drama in restraint. After Our Souls at Night and the first block of Netflix’s upcoming Unaccustomed Earth, Long Years Ago returns him to Mumbai, his strongest setting.

Mélanie Laurent’s 15-year Mumbai dream

Laurent said she first met Batra around 15 years ago at the Marrakech Film Festival. The two discussed making something in Mumbai, and Long Years Ago is that promise landing. The casting gives the film a built-in international profile, which matters for a mid-budget Hindi drama that will need to travel.

Here is what we know so far:

• The film: Long Years Ago, a 1991-set family comedy-drama
• The cast: Saif Ali Khan, Vidya Balan and Mélanie Laurent
• The director: Ritesh Batra of The Lunchbox and Photograph
• The producers: Jio Studios, led by Jyoti Deshpande
• The location: largely Mumbai

Why this reunion feels fresh

Saif and Vidya are both coming off larger projects: Saif in Priyadarshan’s Haiwaan and Vidya in Jailer 2 with Rajinikanth. A 1991-set family comedy-drama is a different tempo, and Batra’s writing tends to reward actors who can do a lot with a pause. That contrast is exactly why the pairing is worth watching.

The shoot is under way, so expect casting and location glimpses before any trailer arrives. For now, the news is simple: after 19 years, two of Hindi cinema’s most watchable actors are sharing a story again.

Source: India Today