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The Raja Saab Box Office Day 1: Prabhas To Nail A Record He Failed 7 Times? ( Photo Credit – Instagram )

Prabhas is the undisputed box office king when it comes to the giant numbers he has been achieving ever since his post-Baahubali days. The superstar who has been lovingly called as Amrendra Baahubali, thanks to SS Rajampuli’s magnum opus, started ruling the Hindi box office as well!

Prabhas Box Office Openings

The Baahubali superstar holds an exceptional opening record, claiming 5 spots in the list of the top 10 Indian openers. He claims numbers 3 to 7 in the top 10 list with Baahubali 2, Kalki 2898 Ad, Salaar, Adipurush, and Saaho.

The Raja Saab Box Office Day 1

The Raja Saab box office opening will definitely land Prabha in the sixth spot on the list of the top 10 Indian openers. However, the Hindi version of the film needs to claim a record. Prabhas has been failing for the last ten years!

by Aldo Garcia

Does compassion mean anything to most people these days? Is self-affirmation worth the battle in an increasingly oppressive and apathetic world? What’s the value of “love” in a reality where sustenance is becoming harder and desires feel meaningless in the face of everything else?

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“All We Imagine as Light”, the Cannes Festival’s “Grand Prix” winner in 2024 and Sight and Sound’s movie of the year, isn’t interested in answering any of those questions. Not directly, at least. Instead, Payal Kapadia‘s sophomore work manages to do with genuine care what fiction does better than probably any other medium: it lets its characters pose those questions themselves, as the audience ponders by their side.

The story takes place in the city of Mumbai, where two nurses’ most personal struggles get intertwined. Prabha (Kani Kusruti), the more experienced of the two,...

Ground Zero Box Office Collection Day 1 ( Photo Credit – YouTube )

Ground Zero opened to positive reviews at the box office. Cine-goers who have watched Tejas Prabha Vijay Deoskar’s directorial are calling it a “must-watch.” But the problem is that the footfalls are limited. It has recorded a lower opening than Emraan Hashmi’s last solo release, Why Cheat India. Scroll below for day 1 collections!

Clocks 2nd lowest opening of 2025

Emraan Hashmi’s film has recorded the third-lowest opening of 2025. It managed to leave behind Superboys Of Malegaon (50 lakhs) and Loveyapa (1.10 crore) but remained much lower than Deva, The Diplomat, and others. On day 1, Ground Zero minted only 1.20 crore.

Check out the 5 lowest openings in Bollywood in 2025: Superboys Of Malegaon: 50 lakhs Crazxy: 1.10 crore Ground Zero: 1.20 crore Loveyapa: 1.25 crore Azaad: 1.50 crore 2nd lowest day 1 collection for Emraan Hashmi in post-Covid era

Emraan Hashmi has had three post-Covid releases. Tiger 3...

This is the third in a series of short essays considering film restorations from the past year.The Mirage.The elders in my family often reminisce about the boisterous houses of eastern India in which they were raised. A dozen shared a single bathroom; grandparents, aunts, and uncles lived under one roof; cousins were considered siblings; and their courtyards hosted birthdays and religious festivals. But the images they recount remain hazy to me, as I can only imagine such a past. The crowded rooms have emptied out, and younger generations have since moved across cities and continents. Some of the houses have been demolished to make way for larger apartment buildings. Those few still standing remain under the care of the last surviving elder. This is the common story of the Indian joint family, the once dominant social structure that brought together members of several generations under the same roof.

Following its huge success in cinemas around the world, critical acclaim, and recognition for multiple awards, including a BAFTA nomination for Film Not In The English Language, Mumbai-based writer/director Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner, All We Imagine as Light, will be available to stream exclusively on BFI Player in the UK from 17 February 2025. A BFI Blu-ray/DVD release follows on 3 March.

A Hindi-Malayalam language masterpiece, All We Imagine As Light tells the poignant stories of three underrepresented women in Mumbai, capturing their battles with adversity, solitude, and human connection. Set in the heart of a city where dreams often collide with reality, the film explores resilience and empathy through Kapadia’s poetic and visually striking len

In Mumbai, thoughtful Nurse Prabha’s routine is upset when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger, flightier and rebellious roommate, Anu, tries in vain...

In Which Movie Did All We Imagine As Light Star Kani Kusruti Play Sj Suryah’s Mom? (Photo Credit – Instagram)

Kani Kusruti is an Indian actress who’s getting a lot of appreciation for her recent film, All We Imagine Is Light, directed by Payal Kapadia and starring Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Hridhu Haroon, and others. The film is based on a nurse named Prabha, played by Kani. The plot revolves around her. Prabha’s routine takes an unexpected twist when a surprise gift from her husband arrives at her doorstep, and the situation unfurls.

The film recently made its debut on the Ott platform Hotstar. Known for her vast filmography, Kani also acted in the Tamil and Telugu suspense thriller Spyder, featuring Mahesh Babu, Rakul Preet Singh, Sj Suryah, and others. It is directed by A.R. Murgadoss. The film is about an intelligence officer, Shiva (Mahesh Babu), who...

Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” has struck a chord with young Indian audiences, exploring themes of urban displacement and chosen family that resonate deeply with a generation navigating life in metropolitan cities.

“All We Imagine as Light” explores contemporary working-class Mumbai through the lives of three women. The story centers on two roommates working at a city hospital – head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha) – alongside their co-worker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam). The narrative follows their interconnected lives as Prabha, whose husband from an arranged marriage lives in Germany, navigates attention from a hospital doctor; Anu conducts a secret romance with a Muslim man against her strict Hindu family’s wishes; and Parvaty faces sudden eviction from her home.

“It is a story about finding your feet in a big city, the challenges of navigating loneliness, and the beauty of sisterhood and friendship,...

Following The Film Stage’s collective top 50 films of 2024, as part of our year-end coverage, our contributors are sharing their personal top 10 lists.

Last year I used this space to speak about the ongoing genocide occurring in Gaza and this year, that genocide is still going on. I spoke about how the filmmakers who were most important were the ones depicting the genocide. Many of those filmmakers have passed away and the reason we’re seeing less and less news from Gaza is because the documentarians disseminating the truth through their cameras have been made as legitimate targets by Israel and the United States. Palestinian filmmakers are still making films however, and many of them are vital to watch and save for the memory they preserve. You can search the phrase “Palestinian Film Archive” on Twitter to find threads and documentation listing all of these.

10. Cuckoo (Tilman Singer)

Tilman Singer...

While the established stars like Nivin Pauly and Tovino Thomas hit roadblocks with their latest offerings Malayalee From India and Arm, respectively, Malayalam cinema was not short of quality work this year.

1. All We Imagine As Light: What can we say about a film that has broken the glass ceiling twice over, first by becoming the first Malayalam film to reach audiences across India, and then by becoming the first Indian films since Satyajit Ray’s Pather Panchali to have grabbed global attention so unconditionally. Sight & Sound has recently named Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light as the best film of 2024. And now the garnered Golden Globe nominations!!! Indeed Kapadia’s elegiac ode to Mumbai’s desolate migrants is a wondrous pilgrimage through the heart of solitude. Dreamy and lyrical, it creates a new language for cinema where the spoken word is rendered redundant. The actors don’t speak like actors.

Indian director Payal Kapadia is developing two additional features set in Mumbai, potentially forming a trilogy with her acclaimed fiction feature debut “All We Imagine as Light.”

Kapadia, who just attended the Golden Globes where “All We Imagine as Light” was nominated for best non-English language film and director, revealed she has begun writing her next project, a trilogy concept that is still in early stages.

“I started writing my next movie and it’s also going to be a film in Bombay. It’s a bit early, but I’m thinking about doing two more films in Bombay, and to have this kind of a trilogy,” Kapadia tells Variety.

While it’s been surprisingly snubbed from India’s Oscar committee, the international success of “All We Imagine as Light” has led to expanded distribution opportunities in India. Following its initial Indian theatrical run, the movie was re-released in smaller...

Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix-winning, debut feature “All We Imagine as Light” begins with a slow, elongated moving shot of a blue-tinged Sabji-Mandi (Vegetable market) accompanied by a sad soliloquy: “I’ve lived here maybe 23 years. But I feel afraid to call it home. There’s always the feeling I’ll have to leave.” Taking into account a plethora of criticism from the faceless multitude, on the economic capital of India – Mumbai – the film languidly settles down to encompass the lives of three nurses: Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam), each belonging to a different age group.

The three nurses have migrated to Mumbai from their native villages in search of a better living. Each of them has their own sufferings, which sometimes make them so emotionally numb that it pierces our hearts. Prabha, in her late thirties, was abandoned by her husband shortly after their marriage.

Although “All We Imagine as Light” was not selected by India as its nominee for Best International Feature Film, the indie from India has broken through to find acclaim and an arthouse audience here in the U.S. The contributors to Film Comment recently named it as the Best Film of 2024, while IndieWire’s survey of 177 critics had the film at number four on its list. And, on Sunday night, director Payal Kapadia was nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes, alongside the directors of Oscar favorites like “Anora,” “The Brutalist,” “Conclave,” “Emilia Pérez,” and “The Substance.”

The story of the lives of two nurses living in Mumbai is filled with quiet, intimate vignettes of the everyday life in Mumbai, but it is also brimming with exciting cinematic poetry that brings to life their emotional lives. While Kapadia was on IndieWire’s Filmmaker Toolkit podcast, the director broke down how she used the camera,...

People say Bombay is the city of dreams. But a city cannot dream by itself. It’s a concrete jungle filled with all those unfulfilled desires lurking just beneath the surface. Bombay is a city of illusions. It keeps the dreamers so busy in their daily hustle that they sometimes forget the difference between a dream and an illusion. In the darkness, we try to imagine the light. But the real tragedy is when it’s the light itself that blinds us. Those shining lanterns on the Queen’s necklace and the brightness of the rich man’s mansion aren’t there to guide you. It’s an illusion to fool you. To make you keep walking as life passes by. You ultimately end up somewhere you didn’t want to be to begin with. But fortunate are those who are able to break themselves free of such illusions, and...

Inspiring or irritating, empowering or exploitative, maternal or manipulative — with many shades of gray in between — female mentorship is a common dynamic in many of 2024’s most affecting stories.

In films as diverse as “All We Imagine as Light,” “Babygirl,” “Emilia Pérez,” “The Girl With the Needle,” “Inside Out 2” “The Last Showgirl,” “My Old Ass” and “The Substance,” women develop relationships with one another that alternately risk harm as much as they mean to be helpful, forge camaraderie out of competition or simply provide a mirror reflecting — frequently uncomfortably — who they once were or may one day become.

Inspired by its writer-director’s curiosity about multi-generational friendship, Payal Kapadia’s “All We Imagine as Light” tells the stories of three nurses — Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) — navigating the sociopolitical complexities of Mumbai. “When there is a lot of difference in the generations, there is a sort of conflict that,...

Actress of the year, the incredible Kani Kusruti, who can play anything, discusses the impact Of All That We Imagine As Light and more in this special interview with Subhash K Jha.

Only a myopic kalaa-blind art-myopic industry would cast the powerhouse performer Kani Kusruti as an assistant to Huma Qureshi in Maharani. Indeed, the sinfully accomplished Kani has proved herself the real Maharani of movie acting with All We Imagine As Light. Kani is now being feted across the world. But she is not getting carried away. The Malayali powerhouse started with a bit part in 2003 as a bus passenger speaks of her incredible journey so far.

In 2024 Kani had to as many as three releases. She says it was a mere co-incidence. “I actually did Girls Will Be Girls first, in 2022. October, November is when we shot for it. And All We Imagine Has Light happened in 2023. But,...

Payal Kapadia’s remarkable feature debut charts the daily lives of three women in Mumbai in a beautifully shot ode to the city and to the power of human connections

• The best films of 2024 in the UK

• More on the best culture of 2024

‘Evening is my favourite time of the day” says a character in All We Imagine As Light, as twilight descends on Mumbai – it’s when the city comes alive. In film-maker Payal Kapadia’s feature debut, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes, night-time in the city is shown in loving detail, as we see markets, fluorescently-lit shops, and trains full of women returning from work. Vermeer is famously said to have “painted with light”. The same principle seems to animate every frame of Kapadia’s film, as light delicately bounces around the screen, indicating the film’s interest in illuminating moments of hope as untold secrets lie in the shadows.

The best films of 2024 were released during a time of increasing polarization in the film industry. Tentpoles got bigger, more unwieldy, more uneven, more likely to crash and burn. On the other side of the spectrum, indie films got smaller, scrappier, more impressive that they got made at all, let alone contained such beauty.

Movies continued their difficult post-pandemic recovery in 2024. Hindering that process was a pipeline drastically thinned by the previous year’s protracted writers’ and actors’ strikes; the summer release slate was especially anemic. The outlook got a boost from the bumper crop of early-winter releases led by Wicked, Moana 2 and Gladiator II, but box office nonetheless seems headed for an annual tally well short of 2023 revenues.

Studio animation came back with guns blazing — Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Moana 2 all appear certain to land in the top 5. Among critics’ darlings, Flow and The Wild Robot both looked to the animal kingdom to find hope for a planet falling apart, while the latter also provided a comforting balm for A.I. anxiety. And the artisanal magic of stop-motion animation made a comeback in Memoir of a Snail and Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

The success of Deadpool & Wolverine...

We’re currently enjoying a wave of attention-grabbing feminist movies, with The Substance, Poor Things and Blink Twice using stylish allegory to tackle difficult topics — sometimes with mixed results. All We Imagine As Light emerges from a very different mindset, reminding us that subtlety and sincerity can be equally effective tools. Set in Mumbai, it offers a clear-eyed view of everyday life as a working-class woman, focusing on two nurses who share an apartment and work at the same hospital.

The second film from Indian director Payal Kapadia (her first was the acclaimed 2021 documentary A Night Of Knowing Nothing), All We Imagine As Light won the Grand Prix at this year's Cannes Film Festival. This brought a well-deserved boost to a type of indie film that’s often tricky to market: thoughtful, naturalistic and character-focused, with a poetic view of bustling urban life.

Kapadia's vision immerses us in the rhythms of the city,...

All We Imagine As Light

Mumbai-based director Payal Kapadia's directorial feature début, All We Imagine As Light, is a deeply sensitive female centred drama with an international flavour. It feels like Kapadia has folded into her independent Indian feature a certain European and American aesthetic. It shouldn't be surprising given that Kapadia, with the support of European development funds, worked with the film's French producers in Europe before shooting the film in India.

The story revolves around the relationship between three nurses: Prabha (Kani Kusruti), Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam). Each have their own dramas. Prabha receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, stirring up past memories. Anu risks her reputation when she falls in love with a secret boyfriend, while Parvaty is threatened with eviction. Beginning in Mumbai and ending in a quiet beach town, the three women set out on their own journeys of self-discovery while developing deep bonds.

Select public screenings of All We Imagine As Light, the second feature from rising Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia, began in early May, a few weeks ahead of the film’s splashy competition debut at the Cannes Film Festival. I first saw the film during this run in London at the notoriously dingy Soho screening rooms and as the credits rolled in the room, there was a feeling of subdued excitement in the air. Attendees — some of the industry’s most hardened and cynical critics — could be seen cracking smiles at each other and nodding approvingly.

It was clear that everyone in the room had realized they’d seen something rather special, but no one dared to make pronouncements about its potential. I suspect in part due to the volatility of a Cannes debut. Films by much bigger names, traditionally sure-fire locks with the chin-scratching Riviera crowd, have opened on the...

A city is never just a concrete jungle when its lanes and crossings are laced with personal memories. Payal Kapadia’s debut feature, All We Imagine As Light, which won Cannes’ Grand Prix award in 2024, is an ode to the city of Bombay. Be it Muhammad Rafi’s Bombay Meri Jaan or Bappi Lahiri’s Boombai Nagariya, Bombay is often imagined as the main character—a city that compels its inhabitants to live a fast-paced life, a city that is not forgiving and almost draining, yet most experience a sense of accomplishment in becoming a part of the hustle culture. Bombay is spoken of as almost a drug that keeps you awake at odd hours and makes you believe in the possibility that your dreams can come true. It is a city of dreamers, hustlers, and achievers, and while the glorification of the grind often takes center stage, Kapadia addresses...

If you can get across one major challenge in the plot of All We Imagine As Light towards the end of the film, then Payal Kapadia’s sensually vibrant rigorously uncontaminated view of Mumbai’s dispassionate dingy working-class nightlife is easy to embrace as something truly special.

A film about commuting characters in Mumbai which doesn’t flatter to deceive. Kapadia’s cameraman Ranabir Das takes in all the stench and the endless chaos with a sighing, reverent, arching view.

The ‘lens’ said, the better.

The actors don’t speak like actors. They talk. They don’t spew lines. They say whatever they have to say, and not what we would like to hear.

Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and Anu (Divya Prabha) are nurses in a low-maintenance hospital who are also roommates. Their life is no bed of roses for sure. The smell all around them assails us. Not that they...

All We Imagine As Light, directed by Payal Kapadia, is a moving exploration of life in contemporary India. With a compelling and contemplative story, this outstanding film features brilliant performances by Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam. The film, which has earned a perfect 100% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes, is now playing in New York and Los Angeles with multiple sold-out shows. This Friday, November 22nd, it will open in cinemas in Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, and San Diego. More cities will be added over Thanksgiving.

The film, which won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is a soulful study of three women living in contemporary working-class Mumbai. All We Imagine As Light explores their experiences and focuses on the expressions of their individual light. It is complex, beautiful, sad, full of darkness and light, both imagined and real, and it’s utterly brilliant.

Partners Sideshow Pictures and Janus Films open All We Imagine As Light on Friday and will follow the playbook for Drive My Car, the indie distributor’s first film that began a slow rollout about this time in 2021, collecting awards, nice grosses and finishing with an International Picture Oscar win amid a flurry of nominations. Payal Kapadia’s film, among the best reviewed of the year, was snubbed by India for an Oscar selection. Its distributor has something to say about that and is campaigning for other key categories.

Also this weekend, comedy A Real Pain with Jesse Eisenberg and Kieran Culkin from Searchlight Pictures hits 900-plus screens in a major expansion. Sony Pictures Classics’ Saorsie Ronan starrer The Outrun, which opened in early October and was down to 19 screens, is jumping back to 200 by popular demand, which is nice to hear.

Gkids debuts Ghost Cat Anzu on 300-plus screens.

I was surprised when it was announced that another film and not writer-director Payal Kapadias lush All We Imagine as Light would be Indias entry to the Oscars. The films story spans three generations and its a loving, heartwarming ode to the strength of its characters, each of whom lives outside societal norms in some way and struggles to come to terms with their current situations. The drama boasts stellar performances from its cast and allows us to sit in their feelings as they navigate changes affecting their lives while supporting each other.

All We Imagine as Light

Director Payal KapadiaRelease Date November 15, 2024Writers Payal KapadiaCast Madhu Raja, Lovleen Mishra, Anand Sami, Azees Nedumangad, Hridhu Haroon, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Kani KusrutiCharacter(s) Kaki, Dr. Supriya, Drowned Man, Dr. Manoj, Shiaz, Parvaty, Prabha, AnuRuntime 118 MinutesGenres Drama

In Mumbai, Prabha (Kani Kusruti) is a nurse who receives a house gift from her husband,...

“The city takes time away from you,” an unseen voice says, near the beginning of Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light. “You’d better get used to impermanence.” The city in question is Mumbai, which an opening montage presents as a monsoon-season metropolis filled with clashing dialects, crushes of crowds and a tropical level of heat. The writer-director started her career as a documentarian, and while it’s a cliché to call a location a character in a movie, there’s the sense that she’s...

Editor’s Note: This review was originally published during the 2024 Cannes Film Festival on May 23. Sideshow/Janus opens “All We Imagine as Light” in select theaters on November 15.

The intimate way that women move through a city sprawl gives Payal Kapadia’s drama about two nurses in Mumbai a deeply romantic gauze. This romance has to do with the way that people occupy their space in this world, whether alone or sharing it with others. The younger nurse Anu (Divya Prabha) comes in from the rain and, although she is giving her roommate Prabha (Kani Kusruti) the silent treatment after an earlier insult, she is still comfortable stripping her top off in front of her, in order to change into something dry. All the while Prabha is trying to make good, saying that she has made Anu’s favorite dish.

This casual everyday vignette is brimming with a sensuality that...

Bustling bodies blur together like the raindrops pouring from the gray Mumbai sky. Connection is inevitable in All We Imagine Is Light, writer-director Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix-winner from this year’s Cannes. This is by virtue of sheer numbers—the cramped living quarters, full subways, and busy streets map...

In All We Imagine as Light, a nurse in a Mumbai hospital is confronted by the emptiness in her life when she helps a friend move to a seaside village. Set near an upscale Himalayan prep school, Girls Will Be Girls focuses on a mother who toys with her teenage daughter’s boyfriend.

These strikingly dissimilar roles are both played by Kani Kusruti, an award-winning stage and screen performer who’s been appearing onscreen for 20 years. Her work has unusual depth, a core integrity that makes her convincing no matter what class or type she plays.

Internationally, this has been a breakthrough year for Kusruti: Shuchi Talati’s feature-directing debut Girls Will Be Girls won Sundance’s Audience Award and was released this past September in U.S. theaters, while Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light screened at Cannes, where it earned the Grand Prix, and arrives next week in U.

The first Indian hard sci-fi movie was of Tamil Origin; in that context, the Tamil sci-fi scene moving towards a more mass-y, typical action adventure approach with entries like Endhiran and 24 in later years might feel strange to genre viewers. With the advent of Ott platforms, much like other Indian movie industries, Kollywood received greater freedom in introducing and experimenting with new stories without having to shoehorn the age-old mass movie treatment—and a reflection of this changed stance was seen in theatrical releases as well. Director Kg Balasubramani’s latest mind-bending sci-fi thriller, Black, streaming on Amazon Prime, is a testament to the fact that the Tamil movie industry has taken a step in the right direction after all.

Using minimal characters, evoking atmospheric dread with creative use of settings, and with an inspired cinematography coupled with chilling background scores, Black plays all the beats right to build effective tension and suspense.

Hirokazu Koreeda confessed he had wanted to have an in-depth talk with Indian filmmaker Payal Kapadia ever since he saw her film All We Imagine as Light at the Cannes Film Festival this year. On Tuesday, the Japanese auteur finally got his chance as part of the intimate TIFF Lounge talk series held during Tokyo Internation Film Festival at the plush Lexus Cafe.

All We Imagine as Light is Kapadia’s second full length feature after her 2021 debut, the documentary A Night of Knowing Nothing. Her sophomore feature has been an international critical sensation and was the first Indian film to compete in Cannes’ main competition in 30 years. The film ultimately won the French festival’s Grand Prix, the second most prestigious award. In recent weeks, All We Imagine as Light has been in the news again, as the film was widely expected to be India’s submission to the...

Payal Kapadia’s Grand Prix-winning “All We Imagine as Light” just had its premiere at the Mami Film Festival 2024. The excitement was predictably through the roof. Of course, it was partially related to the recognition it received which an Indian film had not even stood a chance for in several years. However, another tissue connects the film specifically to Mumbai, the city that was excited about it. It’s the supposed ‘Mumbai Spirit’. In the post-screening Q&a session, Kapadia briefly spoke about the same phenomena.

Mumbai is a city filled with contradictions. Many people come to this ‘city of dreams’, looking at it through their rose-tinted glasses. They go on a journey akin to the ‘American dream.’ They assume their efforts or skills are enough to let them rise up the ladder. So, they tolerate its inescapable sweat and dust, the massive rent prices, and the crowded trains. While living there,...

The Dharamshala International Film Festival (Diff) 2024 is set to kick off in style with Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light as the opening film. Running from November 7 to 10 at the Tibetan Children’s Village in Dharamshala, this year’s edition promises to be a vibrant celebration of independent cinema from across the world.

Kapadia’s film, which premiered at Cannes earlier this year to an eight-minute standing ovation, has quickly become a global sensation. The film not only earned the prestigious Grand Prix at Cannes but also holds the distinction of being the first Indian film in 30 years to compete for the Palme d’Or. After its success in France, where it was released by Condor Distribution on October 2, it has also made waves in North America, with Janus Films and Sideshow acquiring distribution rights in May. It further cemented its place on the festival circuit with a...

The new trailer and poster have debuted for Payal Kapadia’s acclaimed film All We Imagine As Light which won the Grand Prize at this year’s prestigious Cannes Film Festival. Celebrated by audiences at top festivals such as the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival, and earning a perfect 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, the award-winning motion picture begins its theatrical release on November 15th.

Written and Directed by Payal Kapadia, this brilliant film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Hridhu Haroon, and Azees Nedumangad

The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated in All We Imagine As Light. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital — head nurse Prabha and recent hire Anu — plus their coworker, cook Parvaty, Kapadia’s film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment to...

"You could just vanish into thin air, and no one would even know." Janus Films has revealed the official US trailer for an acclaimed indie drama titled All We Imagine As Light, made by a young Indian filmmaker named Payal Kapadia. This first premiered at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival earlier this year as one of the most acclaimed films of the festival, picking up the Grand Prix award. The Mumbai-set story follows two nurses & roommates who head off on trip to a beach town to find a space where their desires can manifest. Nurse Prabha's routine is troubled when she receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband. Her younger roommate, Anu, tries in vain to find a spot in the city to be intimate with her boyfriend. The cast features Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, and Hridhu Haroon. They escape to a coastal town which leads them...

One of the most acclaimed films of the year, Payal Kapadia’s dazzling Cannes Film Festival Grand Prize winner All We Imagine as Light is now finally rolling out stateside. After stops at Telluride, TIFF, and NYFF, Sideshow and Janus Films will release it in U.S. theaters starting November 15 and now have debuted the new trailer. While India foolishly didn’t select it to compete in the international feature category at this year’s Academy Awards, hopefully it’ll take an Anatomy of a Fall-esque path this season.

Here’s the synopsis: “The light, the lives, and the textures of contemporary, working-class Mumbai are explored and celebrated by writer/director Payal Kapadia, who won the Grand Prize at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for her revelatory fiction feature debut. Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital—head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (DivyaPrabha)—plus theircoworker,...

Payal Kapadia’s critically acclaimed narrative debut, “All We Imagine as Light,” spotlights the close community of women within the intergenerational nursing realm.

Kapadia, who previously directed Cannes’ Golden Eye award-winning documentary “A Night of Knowing Nothing” in 2021, has been working on “All We Imagine as Light” since film school. The feature was the first Indian film to premiere in competition at the Cannes Film Festival in 30 years, and later won the Grand Prize at the festival.

Here’s the official synopsis: “Centering on two roommates who also work together in a city hospital —head nurse Prabha (Kani Kusruti) and recent hire Anu (Divya Prabha), plus their coworker, cook Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam) — Kapadia’s film alights on moments of connection and heartache, hope and disappointment. Prabha, her husband from an arranged marriage living in faraway Germany, is courted by a doctor at her hospital; Anu carries on a romance with a Muslim man,...

The Mami Mumbai Film Festival, one of Asia’s premier cinematic events, returns for its 2024 edition from October 19–24, bringing an electrifying lineup of films and cultural experiences. This six-day celebration of global cinema will feature over 110 films from more than 45 countries, with works presented in over 50 languages across a variety of lengths and genres, all part of the festival’s Official Selection. The highlight of the festival is the South Asia Competition, which spotlights the most groundbreaking contemporary films from South Asia and the South Asian diaspora, showcasing this year’s most outstanding cinematic achievements.

Mami 2024 will open on October 19th with Payal Kapadia’s debut fiction feature All We Imagine as Light, setting the tone for the festival. The grand finale on October 24th will feature Anora, the 2024 Palme d’Or winner, closing the event on a high note.

This article offers a curated list of 25 must-watch titles for this festival season,...

The Mami Mumbai Film Festival 2024 is set to open with one of the year’s most anticipated films, All We Imagine as Light, a Malayalam-language drama by Payal Kapadia. This film has already made history as the first Indian film to win the prestigious Grand Prix at the 77th Festival de Cannes. With a premiere on 23 May 2024 at Cannes, it received an eight-minute standing ovation and marked the first Indian film to compete in the main competition since 1994.

All We Imagine as Light follows the journey of two Malayali nurses, Prabha and Anu, who work in Mumbai and are grappling with personal issues in their relationships. Seeking respite, they embark on a road trip to a beach town, where a mystical forest becomes a symbolic space for their dreams. The film delves into the lives of these working-class women, navigating the challenges of urban migration and their dislocation in the fast-paced city of Mumbai.

All We Imagine As Light received all kinds of recognition at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year. The winner of the Grand Prix at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, this Payal Kapadia film is all about women and stories of their lives. Payal Kapadia, through this film, peeks into the most mundane life of three women hustling in one of the most busiest cities in India, Mumbai.

Spoilers Ahead

Were Anu And Prabha Roommates?

The movie began with Prabha nursing an elderly patient. It was established that Prabha was one of the senior nurses in a hospital in Mumbai. Many in the nursing staff looked up to her, including Anu, one of the recent hires. Anu joined Prabha as a roommate as well, and they quickly bonded as friends. Anu, however, hesitated to share any kind of news that would cause Prabha distress. Prabha was married to someone, but she...

In a defining scene from Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light, Prabha, the protagonist, is seen embracing a rice cooker as if she were making love to it. It’s a powerful moment in this two-hour drama, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes 2024, as it unveils for the first time Prabha’s suppressed yearning for affection. She had been mopping the floor of her drab Mumbai apartment with linen sheets she saved from the hospital where she works as a senior nurse.

The rice cooker, a surprise gift from her husband who disappeared a few months after their arranged marriage, is a monolith-like object, reminiscent of Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. Until that moment, she hadn’t dared to look at it or imagine it as a message from another world, where her husband might still be tethered to her. But like many who put on a brave but confused front,...

The film “All We Imagine as Light” will begin showing in select theaters in Kerala on September 21st. The movie tells the story of two nurses from Kerala who work in Mumbai. It was directed by Payal Kapadia and won the Grand Prix, the second highest prize, at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year.

The film focuses on the lives of Prabha and Anu, who share an apartment in Mumbai. Prabha receives a surprise gift from her estranged husband as she deals with personal issues. Meanwhile, Anu seeks private time with her boyfriend. A trip to a coastal town becomes an opportunity for the women to explore their desires and inner thoughts.

The production involved companies from France, India, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, and Italy. Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media acquired the Indian distribution rights. Daggubati said in a quote to Variety that he is proud to bring the film...

The two nurses from Kerala, southern India, who are the protagonists of Payal Kapadia‘s Cannes prizewinner “All We Imagine as Light,” will begin their theatrical journey from home.

Written and directed by Kapadia in her narrative directorial debut, the film tells the story of two Kerala women in Mumbai — Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate who is seeking a place to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest. The film, which won the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year, stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha and Hridhu Haroon, all of whom hail from Kerala.

Spirit Media, founded by “Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati, which acquired India distribution rights for the film, will release the Malayalam and Hindi-language film in limited cinemas in Kerala from Sept.

Payal Kapadia’s Cannes Grand Prix winner “All We Imagine as Light” could find itself being in the enviable position of being the entry of choice at the Oscars’ international feature category from not one but two countries – France and India.

Earlier this week, “All We Imagine as Light” sparked a surprise as it turned up in the roster of four movies shortlisted by France’s Oscar committee; alongside Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Perez,” “The Count of Monte Cristo,” an epic adventure film adapted from Alexandre Dumas’ classic, as well as Alain Guiraudie’s “Misericordia.”

Mainly produced by Thomas Hakim and Julian Graff through their France-based company Petit Chaos, the film secured distribution deals in most major territories months ago, including in the U.S. (where Janus Films and Sideshow will release it in the fall) and France (Condor Distribution), and is on track to become one of the most...

Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine As Light is a moving and contemplative exploration of life in contemporary, working-class Mumbai. This unique and compelling story features brilliant performances by Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, and Chhaya Kadam. The outstanding film, with its distinct art-house feel, takes you inside an emotional Indian tale.

The tale begins in documentary form, with the first shots taking you to the streets, where you experience the bustling areas full of people and hear the sounds of Mumbai. Then, weaving through that, you hear stories of people who live there. It’s a marvelous way to set up where you are and prepare you for the incredible journey Kapadia will take you on.

The focus then sharpens to Kani Kusruti’s Prabha in a glorious shot; then, the frame finds Anu (Divya Prabha) and Parvaty (Chhaya Kadam). We enter their world, their darkness, and their light. It...

Spirit Media, founded by “Baahubali” star Rana Daggubati, has acquired India distribution rights for Payal Kapadia’s Cannes prizewinner “All We Imagine as Light.”

Written and directed by Kapadia in her narrative directorial debut, the film tells the story of two women in Mumbai — Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate who is seeking a place to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest. The film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon.

Kapadia said: “This film is about friendship between three different women and oftentimes women are pitted against each other, but for me friendship is a very important relationship because it can lead to greater solidarity, inclusivity and empathy towards each other.”

The film won the Grand Prix at Cannes earlier this year.

Janus Films and Sideshow have set the U.S. release date for “All We Imagine as Light,” the critically acclaimed Indian drama that won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival, for Nov. 15 in New York and Los Angeles, with a nationwide expansion to follow.

Written and directed by Payal Kapadia in her narrative directorial debut, the film tells the story of two women in Mumbai — Prabha, a troubled nurse who receives an unexpected gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate who is seeking a place to be intimate with her boyfriend. A trip to a beach town allows them to find a space for their desires to manifest. The film stars Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam and Hridhu Haroon.

Read: You can see all Academy Award predictions in all 23 categories on one page on the Variety Awards Circuit: Oscars.

The co-distributors hope the drama...

The 2024 Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix winner, All We Imagine as Light (2024), written and directed by Payal Kapadia, will be released in UK and Irish cinemas on 29 November 2024. A BFI Blu-ray and BFI Player release will follow in early 2025.

Featuring Kani Kusruti (Prabha), Divya Prabha (Anu) and Chhaya Kadam (Parvaty) in the lead roles, All We Imagine as Light was the first Indian film to be selected in an Official Competition at Cannes in three decades. Payal Kapadia also made history as the first female Indian filmmaker ever to have a film in this prestigious section of the festival. After dancing down the red carpet, the director and her cast saw the film receive an eight-minute standing ovation; worldwide critical acclaim and 5-star reviews followed.

An Indian feature with the look and feel of a European arthouse classic, exploring the complexities of female friendship, this beautiful, sweeping, emotional film brilliantly captures the frantic pace,...

All We Imagine as Light.The films of Payal Kapadia exist at the intersection between scorching injustices and reveries that transcend them. All of her works, four shorts and two features to date, are dotted with people struggling to connect and overcome systemic forces that keep them apart. Hers is a cinema of liberation, committed not simply to documenting acts of resistance, but to using the medium as a vehicle for change. Her debut feature, A Night of Knowing Nothing (2021), offers far more than a piercing look at the 2015 student strikes that swept across her alma mater, the Film and Television Institute of India. It manages to also harness the energies that pulsated from those crowds—an insider’s account that, through caliginous imagery and non-diegetic sounds, vividly captures the feeling of being one with the students fighting the appointment of a TV actor and right-wing politician as their university’s new chairman.