Mar 30, 2026 2:10pm IST
Russia’s Bollywood-style film, ‘Persimmon of My Love’, Is Releasing on April 1, Here’s All That You Need To Know
The last time Russia and India made a film together was a long time ago, and that is about to change. "Persimmon of My Love," a Russian-Indian musical comedy shot entirely in India, is set to premiere in Moscow on April 1, marking the first major cinematic collaboration between the two countries in decades.
Directed by Marius Weisberg and produced by TNT TV and MyWayStudio with backing from the Russian Cinema Fund, the film follows two brothers separated in childhood, one growing up to become a police officer, the other a charming criminal. It is a classic Bollywood premise, and that is entirely deliberate. The project was conceived as a genuine attempt to work within Bollywood’s visual and emotional language rather than observe it from the outside.
The lead roles go to Demis Karibidis and Mikhail Galustyan, two of Russia’s most recognisable comedy actors with decades of television and film work between them. Adila Ragimova makes her feature debut as the female lead, alongside Albina Kabalina, Artur Vakha, and Sergey Rost in supporting roles.
The dance numbers were choreographed by Bollywood choreographer Jay Kumar. Hindi songs were composed by Zurab Matua, and the soundtrack includes a tribute to "Jimmy Jimmy Aaja Aaja" – sung by Parvati Khan, composed by Bappi Lahiri, from the 1982 film "Disco Dancer," released in the Soviet Union in 1984. It drew 60.9 million viewers, making it the biggest foreign film at the Soviet box office that year. Including it in "Persimmon of My Love" is not nostalgia but a gesture toward the era when Indian cinema was included in everyday Russian cultural life.
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The shoot took place across Mumbai and Rajasthan, where the forts and ancient architecture of Udaipur and Jodhpur provided the visual foundation for the film’s fictional city of Khurmada. More than 350 Indian and international crew members worked on set daily, with up to 1,000 people appearing on screen simultaneously. Director Weisberg has spoken about being genuinely surprised by the speed and professionalism of the Bollywood production teams, noting that multiple units, including separate groups for stunts and crowd scenes, ran simultaneously throughout the shoot. Ragimova has described the experience of learning Hindi lines and rehearsing with Bollywood choreographers as something that made India inseparable from the emotional world of the story.
The project arrives against the backdrop of deepening India-Russia ties under BRICS, and is being framed as a cultural event. Whether "Persimmon of My Love" eventually finds its way to Indian screens remains unconfirmed. What is already clear is that Bollywood’s production infrastructure, its locations, and its choreographic tradition were compelling enough to bring a foreign industry 5,000 kilometers to Rajasthan. That is its own kind of compliment.
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