Would like to see classic studio romantic comedies come back: Simone Ashley

New Delhi: As someone who always loved romantic comedies, "Bridgerton" star Simone Ashley said she is happy to see the genre making a comeback.

The British actor of Indian origin currently stars in "Picture This", a romantic comedy streaming on ‘Prime Video’.

"Picture This", also featuring "After" film franchise star Hero Tiffin Fiennes, is set against the backdrop of a wedding in a British Indian family.

"I've always loved rom-coms. All those classic '90s rom-coms I grew up watching. They (rom-coms) are making a comeback. I'm starting to see more and more of them. I'd like to see those kinds of studio classics come back," Ashley told PTI in a virtual interview.

Directed by Prarthana Mohan and written by Nikita Lalwani, "Picture This" follows Pia (Ashley), a struggling photographer who receives a prediction: true love and career success await her in the next five dates she goes on.

With her sister's wedding looming and family playing matchmaker, her ex Charlie (Tiffin) reappears, throwing both her love and professional life into chaos, according to the film's official synopsis.

The 29-year-old actor, best known to Indian audiences as Kate Sharma from the hit ‘Netflix’ period romantic drama series "Bridgerton", also listed her all-time favourite romantic comedy films.

"I love 'The Notebook', 'Bend It Like Beckham', 'How To Lose a Guy in 10 Days', 'My Best Friend's Wedding' and 'Notting Hill'," she said.

In "Picture This", Ashley's character is depicted as a Bollywood fan who drops dialogue references from "Sholay", dreams about Shashi Kapoor and dances to the Madhuri Dixit-Prabhudeva chartbuster "Kay Sera Sera" with her sister at the wedding.

Asked what her favourite Bollywood films were growing up, the actor singled out "Lagaan", fronted by Aamir Khan.

"I would say 'Lagaan' was my favourite. I loved all the music, so catchy all of the songs. They are like eight minutes long, that is crazy. That was my favourite one," she said.

"Picture This" also stars Sindhu Vee, Luke Fetherston, Adil Ray, Anoushka Chadha, Even Figueiredo, Kulvinder Ghir, Asim Chaudhry, Nikesh Patel and Phil Dunster.

Inspired by the Australian film "Five Blind Dates", the movie is presented by ‘Amazon MGM Studios’ and ‘Ingenious Media’ and backed by ‘42 Production’.