What does it take to fall in love with someone who isn't entirely of this world? That question sits at the center of Tara & Akash: Love Beyond Realms, the Indo-Swiss romantic fantasy that released in theatres last year and will now be premiering on JioHotstar on September 17.
Jitesh Thakur, actor and producer, who co-wrote the film, said the idea began with a simple question: is pure, unconditional love possible in the physical world? The answer became a story about Akash, played by Jitesh, a being existing beyond the physical realm, and his connection with Tara, a young woman on a solo trip in Switzerland, played by Alankrita Bora.
Directed by Srinivas Abrol, the story follows how they unravel a divine connection that transcends time and space.
Bora says there was a specific quality in Tara that made the part feel worth playing. "Tara is an explorer; she’s always crossing boundaries, stepping out of her comfort zone, never wanting to stay still," she shares. "That’s what made her feel so relatable to me, and honestly, it’s exactly why I wanted to play her."
Thakur, who plays Akash, says he pulled from some unexpected references while figuring out how to write a being who doesn't belong to the physical world. He co-wrote the script with director Srinivas Abrol, who also co-wrote the Malayalam thriller Mirage.
"I really liked the concept of Brad Pitt’s character in the film Meet Joe Black, where he’s some sort of angel — that idea stood out to me," Thakur says.
"I also read the Vedas, and a lot of Paramahansa Yogananda’s 'Autobiography of a Yogi', especially a chapter on the resurrection of Sri Yukteswar. That’s what helped me navigate writing about an astral world. Srinivas and I connected over those same ideas of consciousness and belief; that’s really where this film started.”
The film is an official India-Switzerland collaboration, produced by the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) alongside Whispers From Eternity Films and Switzerland Tourism. It was also showcased at the Toronto International Film Festival and the International Film Festival of India in Goa.
The film was shot entirely in Switzerland, though not the Switzerland Hindi cinema has usually shown audiences. "Bollywood has always shown the Alps, Interlaken, the popular places," Thakur says. "We shot in Morcote instead — a village in the Italian side of Switzerland that hasn’t been used in an Indian film before. We did a five-day recce there and met locals who showed us villages nobody’s filmed in. It was breathtaking."
For Bora, the landscape did more than provide scenery. "Every location became a character in itself," she says. "We wanted to explore a connection that goes beyond time, distance, even life, and Switzerland's visuals helped bring that out. India gave the film its soul, and Switzerland gave it visual poetry."
The supporting cast includes veteran actors Amol Palekar, Deepti Naval and Brijendra Kala. Both leads describe working opposite them as instructive and surreal, with Thakur comparing it to a masterclass.
"The whole crew was in sync in scenes with them — it felt like a masterclass, honestly,” he says. Bora adds: "They carry a rare kind of grace. It felt effortless working with them, and they gave the film so much more depth."
As for what he hopes audiences take from the film, Thakur circles back to where the story began: a reminder, he says, of simplicity, humility, and staying open to love.
Tara & Akash: Love Beyond Realms is premiering on JioHotstar on September 17.