‘My Indian Boyfriend’ Gets a British Reboot with Global Ambition

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VARIETY reveals how a cross-cultural romcom is being reimagined in the U.K., turning Leicester into a new hub for international storytelling.

By TRH Entertainment Desk

Mumbai, December 17, 2025 — A quiet but meaningful shift is underway in global cinema—and it is unfolding not in London, but in Leicester. According to an exclusive report by VARIETY, the Hong Kong romantic comedy My Indian Boyfriend is being remade for British audiences, with production set in the East Midlands city known for its rare demographic diversity.

The remake will be executive produced by Sri Kishore, director of the original Hong Kong film, alongside U.K.-based Hong Kong creative Hiu Man Chan. Leicester filmmaker Vijay Chauhan will make his feature directorial debut with the project, marking a significant moment for regional British cinema. The working subtitle, Golden Mile, references Leicester’s Belgrave Road—famed for its South Asian jewellery stores—signalling a deliberate shift from Hong Kong’s urban tensions to Britain’s multicultural crossroads.

The full-circle symbolism is striking. The original film opened the inaugural Electric Shadows Chinese Film Festival in Leicester. Now, the story returns as a local production, rooted in the city’s lived realities. Marketed as Hong Kong’s first mainstream romantic drama led by a South Asian male protagonist, My Indian Boyfriend broke ground with its bilingual Cantonese-Hindi narrative and its candid exploration of migration, interracial relationships, and family expectations.

The British adaptation retains these core themes while reworking them through Leicester’s social fabric—where Chinese and South Asian communities intersect daily, sometimes harmoniously, sometimes uneasily. Kishore has described the remake as an attempt to celebrate shared traditions while confronting the frictions that define multicultural life.

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For Chauhan, the project is both personal and political. His debut aims to put Leicester on the cinematic map, challenging the London-centric bias of the U.K. film industry. Chan, an academic at De Montfort University and founder of U.K.-China Film Collab, frames the film as a statement: a bridge between contemporary Hong Kong cinema and British independent film-making.

Beyond the screen, the production plans to engage local creatives, universities and community partners—expanding opportunities for emerging talent. As VARIETY notes, this is more than a remake. It is a declaration that global stories can—and should—be told from the margins.