Ajay Bahl, who shot to fame with his critically and commercially successful film B.A. Pass, is now working on his second film. And in keeping with the trend, the film is going to be a sequel to his hit debut film.

Confirming this, Bahl said that the sequel to B.A.Pass will have a completely new story with a new set of characters, but it will be similar in tone, genre and spirit to its predecessor. It’s a neo-noir thriller with elements of greed, lust, love and treachery and a really twisted plot. “Thematically, the film suggests that ‘absolute passion, if plagued by lack of faith, destroys absolutely’,” he said adding, “The film, set in a small-town in India, will be shot either in the treacherous lands of Madhya Pradesh or in the hilly terrains of Uttaranchal. I will start my recce in a couple of days before I take a final call. We are living in dark times and I like that to reflect in my work, not to say I will not be exploring other genres, but I am hoping to create a window for such delicious noir stories under the B.A.Pass franchise, if you could call it that. The casting director is Honey Trehan and we will begin the casting process by next week. The ideology will be the same as B.A.Pass, that is to cast fabulous actors and not go for just the market appeal.” The film, to go on floors in September, will be penned by Pawan Sony, of Sixteen.

Meanwhile, Bahl’s next project after B.A.Pass 2 titled Hotel Grand is already in pre-production stage. The shooting for the period film, set in the 60s, is likely to start probably in December after B.A.Pass sequel is complete. While Shilpa Shukla, the heroine of B.A. Pass, is part of the team, the film will have a bigger cast. When asked if Abhay Deol will be a part of the project, Bahl said, “I have not finalised Abhay yet as he has been travelling and will be meeting me next month. Hotel Grand will have an ensemble cast of six characters with two male protagonists and only Shilpa has been finalised yet.”

Hotel Grand is based on the book, The Informer by the Japanese master mystery writer Akimitsu Takagi and it is ranked #17 on the Amazon list of the best mysteries of the century.