EXCLUSIVE: Ali Fazal and Tillotama Shome will star in Beyond, a horror-thriller set in the Himalayas from writer-director Sumit Purhoit. Chippy Babu and Abhishek Sharma’s Mumbai-based TrainTripper Films is producing alongside Mario Stefan’s fieber.film out of Munich.
Set in a ghostly Himalayan town, the movie is billed as an exploration of myth, memory, and places left behind.
Purhoit, a BAFTA Breakthrough honoree, has a personal connection to the subject matter and setting given that he comes from a small town in the Himalayan mountains. He writes and directs.
“Like many others from the region, my aspirations led me to move away in search of opportunities,” he said about the film. “This constant migration has left many hill settlements slowly turning into ghost towns and villages, deserted by their people. One such place, forgotten and frozen in time, is the setting for my film Beyond.”
He added: “Local legends and myths also inspire the narrative. While it unfolds as a mystery horror, its essence lies in capturing the desolation of the place.”
Fazal is known for Prime Video’s Mirzapur and movies including Victoria & Abdul. “Rarely do us actors get a chance to dive deep into narratives… and narratives and landscapes such as Beyond, where you don’t feel shy in opening yourself up to a journey that will shape up some form of creation,” he said.
Tillotama Shome’s credits include Monsoon Wedding and Delhi Crime. She said the theme of escape is writ large in Beyond. “For all those who left for a better life somewhere else and for all those who refused to leave, this story ties us all together in a fable both gentle and horrific in equal measure.”
Cameras roll on the movie in winter 2025-26, the producers said. It will film in the Himalayas.
Mario Stefan of fieber.film added: “South Asian narratives possess a unique, haunting spirituality where fear is shaped through myth, ritual, and cultural memory. As a European producer, I am thrilled to be part of this deeply resonant and culturally rich project.”
“When I first read Beyond, I was struck by its chilling atmosphere and haunting visual journey,” said TrainTripper’s Babu. “As a producer, I’m drawn to stories where the visuals linger long after the dialogue fades, the story’s chilling ambiguity and its refusal to offer easy answers. It’s a deeply local tale with universal questions at its core, exploring what it means to exist in isolation while surrounded by echoes of the past.”
The post Ali Fazal, Tillotama Shome Lead Cast In Sumit Purhoit’s Himalayas-Set Horror Thriller ‘Beyond’ appeared first on Deadline.
