Hansal Mehta 's much-awaited new film Aligarh has just finished principal photography. The film stars Manoj Bajpai and Rajkummar Rao in the lead. It is loosely based on a real life incident which found its way into the headlines not so long back.

The shooting for Aligarh started in end-January'15 in the biting cold of Bareilly and after a manic two month schedule, finished in Mumbai last week. In between the team also canned some fabulous footage in New Delhi and Allahabad. Although the 40-day shoot was extremely grueling, the air on the sets was positive, energetic and a lot of fun. It helped that Manoj Bajpai used to crack everyone up with his jokes. This is also Rajkummar Rao 's third film with Hansal Mehta after Shahid and Citylights and shooting with Mehta was like homecoming for him.

Says Hansal, 'When you are in the middle of a tough shooting schedule, you do wait anxiously for the film to be complete but when you say 'Cut' for the last time, you feel so empty inside. Aligarh has been a very special experience for all of us and we will cherish the process forever.'

Eros International presents Aligarh directed by Hansal Mehta & produced by Sunil Lulla , Sandeep Singh and Shailesh Singh . The film will release later this year.