EXCLUSIVE: Pranutan Bahl, granddaughter of Indian icon Nutan, and Rahsaan Noor are leading Coco & Nut, an English- and Hindi-language romantic comedy shot in Chicago.
Billed as a “spirit-lifting romance,” the film will follow an ambitious young woman (Bahl), who feels worthless while fighting to save her marriage before she gets a “pick me up from her know-it-all college sweetheart (Noor),” according to the official logline.
Star Bahl is from a distinguished acting family, with her father being Indian TV and film actor Mohnish Bahl and her grandmother being the late, legendary actress Nutan. Actor Kajol, currently starring in DIsney+ Hotstar’s remake of The Good Wife, is her aunt. Bahl made her debut in Salman Khan’s 2019 Notebook and followed up with ZEE5 Global’s 2021 contraceptives comedy Helmet.
American actor-filmmaker Noor is directing for the first time since his 2018 feature Bengali Beauty became the the highest grossing Bengali language movie of all time and the first of kind released in the U.S., UK and China. He is also writing alongside Raghav Murali, with additional screenplay credited to Priyamvada Singh.
Hamilton Moving Pictures’ Chad Shields, alongside Ranjith Rajasekharan and Raghav Murali are producing, with Noor’s Ziryab Films, Henry Leong’s Macuverse and executive producers Mashruk Zahid and Lasaly Changkachith co-financing the project.
Noor said the screenplay had been inspired by a text message he received from his college sweetheart five years after they split, and will deal with “the intricate relationship dynamics faced by Millennials and Gen Z; exploring the trend of delayed marriage and its impact on modern love.”
Coco & Nut will be shot in English and Hindi and takes place entirely in Chicago from June to July this year. A “diverse cast and crew drawn from both the United States and India” is being assembled.
“I’m really grateful to be getting another opportunity to make a film,” said Noor. “That too on a subject that is not only personal to me but also a subject that I’ve found so many people around the world relate to — when looking for your life partner, how do you really know if you’ve found the one?”