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Bollywood’s Farhan Akhtar is set to make his Hollywood feature debut in The Beatles – A Four Film Cinematic Event, an ambitious four-part project from Oscar-winning filmmaker Sam Mendes. Backed by Sony Pictures and Neal Street Productions, the films are currently in production in the UK, with a theatrical release slated for April 2028.

Akhtar will portray Ravi Shankar, the legendary sitar maestro whose friendship with George Harrison not only altered the course of the Beatles’ sound but also ushered Indian classical music into Western pop culture in a way few could have predicted.

Shankar famously hosted the band during their 1968 visit to Rishikesh, where they attended Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s transcendental meditation sessions — a chapter of Beatles lore that has since been mythologised, romanticised and endlessly dissected.

Having an Indian actor of Akhtar’s stature step into the role suggests a more grounded, perhaps more culturally aware, portrayal of the musician who influenced tracks like ‘Within You Without You’ and opened Western ears to the sitar.

The four-film project will chronicle the lives of the Fab Four from individual perspectives — a structural gamble that signals Mendes’ intention to avoid the usual cradle-to-grave biopic formula.

Harris Dickinson will play John Lennon, Paul Mescal will take on Paul McCartney, Joseph Quinn will star as George Harrison, and Barry Keoghan will portray Ringo Starr. It marks the first time Apple Corps Ltd and the band have granted full life story and music rights for a feature film.

The supporting cast includes Lucy Boynton, who will play Jane Asher, McCartney’s former fiancée and muse behind several Beatles classics, and Morfydd Clark, who will play Cynthia Lennon, John Lennon’s first wife. Harry Lawtey is set to portray Stuart Sutcliffe, often dubbed “The Fifth Beatle”, whose early departure from the band remains part of its mythology. The ensemble also includes Saoirse Ronan as Linda McCartney, James Norton as manager Brian Epstein and Anna Sawai as Yoko Ono.

Behind the camera, Mendes has assembled a technical dream team, per Deadline. Cinematographer Greig Fraser, editor Lee Smith and executive music producer Giles Martin, among others.

For Akhtar, this marks a notable pivot. A National Award-winning director for Dil Chahta Hai and an actor known for films such as Bhaag Milkha Bhaag and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, he has long straddled commercial appeal and artistic ambition in Indian cinema. His only brush with Hollywood so far has been a cameo in Marvel’s Ms. Marvel. This time, however, he steps into a project that is as culturally loaded as it is commercially massive.

Details about when Akhtar begins filming haven’t been shared.