Of lethally charming smile, Sanjay Suri is no stranger to fashion. He began his career as a model for commercials in the '90s, and years later, walked the showstopper walk for designer Anita Dongre. That he understands that there are stories beyond serenading the obvious formula of potboilers is impressed upon with Suri's production house Kahwa Entertainment backing indie cinema such as My Brother Nikhil (which in 2005 dealt with homosexuality and HIV for the first time in India), and winner of two National Awards, I AM (real life stories about identity crisis and child abuse among others).

Which is why the news of the actor-producer turning director for Beyond the Face, a documentary on India's supermodels, is not surprising. Suri is in the very early phases of filming Beyond the Face, a self-funded documentary featuring a mix of interviews, archival footage and candid shots, scheduled for release in 2019. He says over phone, "The idea of supermodels and their personal journey is interesting, but the real discovery is locating deeper motivations. We are interviewing supermodels spanning three decades, from Nayanika Chatterjee to current top-billed names including Kanishtha Dhankar and Dayana Erappa."