Chennai, Dec 10 (IANS): Director R.S. Prasanna says filmmaker Aanand L Rai, with whom he is working with on upcoming Hindi romantic comedy "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan", has great admiration for south Indian filmmakers.

"I'm extremely blessed to be working with Aanand, and the experience so far has been great," Prasanna told IANS.

Talking about what makes working with the "Ranjhanaa" director exciting, he said: "He has great admiration for southern filmmakers such as K. Balachander and Mani Ratnam, and also for actors like Kamal Haasan, Dhanush and R Madhavan. He constantly keeps mentioning them in his conversations."

"I find it reassuring to work with someone who understands and appreciates southern cinema because I represent that industry."

Rai's love goes beyond southern cinema, says Prasanna.

"He loves people in general. That's why his films are full of lovely characters, and they're set in small towns. He also loves food," he said.

Nearly three years ago, Rai attended a special screening of Prasanna's Tamil directorial debut "Kalyana Samayal Saadham". On the same day, he agreed to produce the film in Hindi.

He says "Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" is not a remake of "Kalyana Samayal Saadham".

"You could say it's broadly inspired by 'Kalyana Samayala'. We're treating it as a new film which will be made for new audience. With Aanand on board, we're sure to make it a different film," he said.

What has he learnt so far from Rai?

"Aanand's absolute focus on story and script fascinates me. When we discussed about making 'Kalyana Samayala' in Hindi, he was about to start work on 'Tanu Weds Manu Returns'. He told me let's wait and work on the project once he is relieved of all commitments. Everything fell in place organically," Prasanna recalled.

Without divulging information about the cast and crew yet, he said an official announcement will be made soon.

"Shubh Mangal Saavdhan" will hit the screens on August 25, 2017.