Maulik Pancholy is writing a book for a new audience.
The actor and author’s first young-adult novel, Will They, Won’t They, will be published by Kokila next year, People magazine reports. The press calls the book “a swoony enemies-to-lovers romance that takes readers behind the scenes of Bollywood.”
Pancholy is known for his roles on television series including Weeds and 30 Rock and films such as 27 Dresses and Horrible Bosses. He made his literary debut in 2019 with the middle-grade novel The Best at It, which was a Stonewall Honor winner, and followed that up three years later with another middle-grade book, Nikhil Out Loud, which won a Lambda Literary Award.
Will They, Won’t They will follow New Yorker Ajit Jain, an aspiring filmmaker who is hired to make a behind-the-scenes documentary about the debut of Bollywood scion Zain Mansoor, whom Ajit finds insufferable. As they spend more time together Ajit realizes that he might be harboring feelings for the actor.
“I can’t wait for readers to meet Ajit and Zain as they navigate who they are as young artists, what it means to step into yourself and the pressures of what might just be a cross-continental romance,” Pancholy told People.
Will They, Won’t They is slated for publication on Jan. 12, 2027.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
