Sonal Sehgal to star in Indo-Latvian sci-fi thriller 'Manny'

Sonal Sehgal will star opposite Russian actor Jurijs Dyakonovs, in the Indo-Latvian co-production and sci-fi thriller 'Manny', a story about a woman who gets trapped inside a house by AI.
Marking Sonal Sehgal’s debut as a producer, 'Manny' is directed by Latvian director, Dace Puce and stars Russian, British, Latvian, French and Indian actors. The other primary characters in the film are played by British Actor Tony Hopkins and Latvian actors Darta Danevica, Egons Dombrovskis and Marta Grase.

While talking about the casting process, Sonal, who has produced 'Manny' along with Latvian producer Kristele Pudane, said, “'Manny' is a sci-fi psychological thriller. Since the theme of the film is very global, Dace and I felt the cast should be global as well. The script was sent to Jurijs and he gave a nod immediately. Since my visa was delayed and I was only going to arrive in Latvia one week before the shoot began, we decided to do readings over Google Hangouts. All the actors made themselves available for all the online readings and by the time I actually met them, it was like we already knew each other pretty well. The film is futuristic and the process of making the film has also been a very unconventional one.”
The film has been shot entirely in Latvia and wrapped shooting in January this year. Since then, the team has been working online in amid the pandemic to finish the post-production. While the edit and colour grading is being done in Latvia, the music and sound mix is happening in India.
When asked about her experience of working with a completely foreign cast, Sonal replied, "I was surprised that Jurijs had been to India fives times! So he was very well-tuned to Indian culture and did not need a lot of explanation regarding the nuances of my character. I play an Indian girl who travels to Latvia on a writer’s retreat and then gets trapped by AI.”