Mukesh Chhabra to Begin Shooting for His 2nd Film in Early 2025 After Ramayana; Actors Locked | Exclusive

In 2020, Mukesh Chhabra made his directorial debut with Dil Bechara starring Sushant Singh Rajput. And earlier this year, he took to X and hinted at directing a sequel to it but then revealed to News18 Showsha that that he has changed his plans and that he wouldn’t want to cash on its title as he has ‘so many emotions attached to it’.

And while he may have stayed away from the director’s chair for four years, the casting director exclusively tells us that his second directorial outing – a love story, reportedly – is currently under pre-production and if all goes well, it will go on floors in 2025. “I’m looking forward to it. I’m in the middle of so many films and shows right now, so I think we’ll start shooting for it early next year,” he informs.

Though Mukesh remains tight-lipped about the story, he shares that the actors for the same have already been roped in. “The scripting is in the process. The producers and the actors are ready. Toh woh sab ka tension nahi hai. Directors often complain about how they’re finding it hard to lock actors. But it’s the opposite in my case. Mujhe pehle actors aur producers mil jaate hai,” he laughs.

At present, he’s busy with Ranbir Kapoor starrer Ramayana, among other big-budget projects and he would only start shooting for his directorial once his work on them comes to a conclusion. “I need to finish Ramayana, Family Man 3 and Gandhi and focus on them before I can start my directorial venture. And I’ll be able to talk about it in detail only after the official announcement,” he remarks.

Details about the cast of his upcoming directorial is still kept under wraps. So, whether he will cast a fresh pair of actors or go back to his usual choices who also happen to be friends, is still unclear. Commenting on if his actor friends hold the expectation that he will cast only them in his projects, Mukesh states, “No. They’re close to me and some are like family because we don’t force each other to work on our respective projects. I knew these people before they made it big.”

He further explains, “We can maintain healthy relationships if we don’t put work pressure on one another. I respect Kriti (Sanon), Vicky (Kaushal), Ayushmann (Khurrana) and Rajkummar’s (Rao) space and they respect my space. That’s key in maintaining good relationships with people. Your equations will go for a toss if you have keep having conversations with the agenda of work in your mind.”

In fact, Mukesh divulges that work conversations between him and them are far and few as ‘maintaining that boundary’ is paramount. “When we meet, we don’t talk about films. We meet at screenings and then go for dinners and just talk about life. Life isn’t just about films. Kriti and my fights aren’t just about films. Rajkummar and my discussions aren’t only about the movies,” he remarks.