'A Suitable Boy' director Mira Nair to prepare for biopic on Amrita Sher-Gil; production will kick off in Amritsar soon - Report

More than six years after her last release, Mira Nair is moving ahead with her long-planned biopic on modernist painter Amrita Sher-Gil. The large-scale international film, tentatively titled ‘Amri’, will begin its groundwork this week with a recce in Amritsar. The director will base her unit in Punjab for nearly two months to shoot key portions of the film before shifting to Europe for the next schedule. The project marks Nair’s return to feature filmmaking after ‘A Suitable Boy’ (2020).According to a report by Mid-Day, the biopic has been in development for several years and is now entering an active production phase. The publication reports that Nair had announced the project in 2020 and spent four years convincing backers to support the ambitious period drama, which spans India, Hungary, and France. The report further added that the recce in Amritsar will set the tone for the story. “Right now it’s just recce. The shoot begins a bit later. Punjab is central to Amrita Sher-Gil’s story, and Mira wanted to begin the film on that note”. The director has been personally involved in location scouting and period detailing to recreate the early 20th century.Set between 1915 and 1941, the film traces Sher-Gil’s life across continents. Born in Budapest to a Punjabi Sikh father and a Hungarian mother, the artist divided her early years between Europe and India. She later studied at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris and went on to redefine Indian modern art by painting the everyday lives of women and the poor with empathy and depth.Casting details remain under wraps, though industry chatter continues. Tanya Maniktala has denied reports of playing the lead. “The casting has been locked after months of research and auditions, but Mira is deliberately keeping it quiet until filming is well underway,” the report further added. The film is expected to feature an ensemble of more than 15 actors from the Hindi film industry, along with European performers. Shooting is expected to begin by March 2026.There is also talk of Tabu appearing in a significant cameo. If confirmed, it would mark her third collaboration with Nair after ‘The Namesake’ and ‘A Suitable Boy’. On the work front, Tabu was recently seen in ‘Crew’, ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’, and ‘Auron Mein Kahan Dum Tha’, directed by Neeraj Pandey.