Srijit Mukherji’s futuristic romantic drama X=Prem will be a black-and-white film

Srijit Mukherji will shoot his next X=Prem as a full-length black-and-white project. 

The film is a ‘new-age futuristic love story, about love as being all-powerful and all-consuming, that can brave through every difficulty in life. One can also expect a Srijit Mukherjee-styled treatment of the dynamics and the complexities of love and human emotions as a whole in X=Prem. The film will see him venture into the romance genre after a long time.

Set in college, the story is about a couple, Khilat, a software engineer, and Joyee who is going through a tough time due to setbacks in life, and how they overcome every obstacle through the power of love.

Speaking to The Telegraph on his decision to shoot in black-and-white, Srijit said, ‘I used colour for flashback and black-and-white for the present.’

 He went on to explain that he reversed the concept of using black-and-white scenes for going back in time, for period pieces, and as flashbacks to symbolise the ‘black-and-white nature of truth.’ He also added in his statement to the Telegraph that it was a purely aesthetic, stylistic choice made for the film.

Mukherji has had black-and-white scenes in Chotushkone, Ek Je Chhilo Raja, and Gumnaami. X=Prem, originally titled Déjà vu, stars Arjun Chakrabarty, Madhurima Basak, with new faces Anindya Sengupta and Shruti Das in the lead roles. Arjun and Madhurita are working with Srijit for the first time. 

This is the debut film for Anindya and Shruti. Talking about his experience with Indiablooms, Anindya said that the romance has not been seen in Bengalifilms before, which is the perfect mix of drama and science. He added that his character in the film was quite interesting to play.

This is also Mukherji’s first collaboration with cinematographer Subhankar Bhar, who is known for Kedara and Bomkesh Gotro. Speaking of the experience,Subhankar reflected on how he constantly exchanged ideas with Srijit for the making of the film. He added that going black-and-white will bring in adash of nostalgia while also heightening the intensity of the script.