First love, the crush one never confessed to and the reunion that offers a chance to rewrite the past are at the heart of Pehla Pyaar Doosri Baar. For writer Jehan Handa, the upcoming romantic comedy, produced and co-written by Luv Ranjan, is an opportunity to revisit a genre that Hindi cinema has struggled to get right in recent years. Directed by Anuj Saini, the film features six newcomers and releases in theatres on October 23.

Handa says the story was rooted in the comfort of nostalgia, a feeling that becomes more pronounced as the demands of adult life take over. “As we grow up, there are all these hustles and real-world problems - toxic work culture, EMIs, rents and everything that comes with today's generation. But when we discuss school or college, there is always a smile. You think, ‘Yaar, woh kya din the.’ It is not as if every day in school was amazing. There were ups and downs then, too. But once those days are over, you look back and realise what they meant to you,” he says.