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Subhash K Jha speaks with Mia Maelzer about her role, Jhumpa, a woman on the run, in Karan Tejpal’s excellent Stolen.

That is quite a performance a tribal woman on the run in Stolen, how did someone as urbane as you land up playing such a role?

I come from a very unique family which is from both urban and rural spaces. My father comes from a very erudite reputed Bengali family of some great people in sports, science, law, cinema and arts and mother comes from a family who belong to a tiny Himalayan village of Nepal those have decent contribution in countries democracy. Whereas,I was brought up in an English medium school in the suburban town called Panihati until I reached University of Calcutta almost unaware of our family history.

When did you become aware of the fact that you were from such a distinguished family?...

~ After multiple festival rounds like Mami, Iffi and Jff, ‘Despatch’ is set to premiere on ZEE5 Global on 13th December ~

Global, December 3, 2024: What happens when the pursuit of a breaking news leads you straight into danger? ZEE5 Global’s highly anticipated investigative crime thriller, Despatch is about to answer that question in the most thrilling way possible. After debuting at the prestigious Mami Film Festival 2024 followed by a special screening at the 55th Internation Film Festival of India (Iffi), Despatch is all set to premiere on ZEE5 Global, the world’s largest streaming platform for South Asian content, on December 13. Produced by Ronnie Screwvala’s RSVP Movies and directed by the acclaimed filmmaker, Kanu Behl, of Titli and Agra fame, Despatch stars Manoj Bajpayee as Joy Bag, a crime journalist who becomes embroiled in a dangerous investigation that threatens to unravel his life. The film also stars Shahana Goswami,...

For better or worse, there’s a tradition of precocious teens on film.

From “Heathers” to “Mean Girls” to “Euphoria” to “Mean Girls” again, teenagers — especially American ones — are perceptive, manipulative, sexualized, and adventurous… eminently watchable even when they’re not relatable.

But elsewhere in the world of filmmaking and adolescence, there are so many other ways to grow up. There are teenagers who still feel like children, others who can’t act on their changing minds and bodies, others still who don’t share their peers’ new interests and feel alienated as a result. Shuchi Talati’s striking Sundance debut “Girls Will Be Girls” is about one such teenager, the quiet, obedient, and book-smart Mira (Preeti Panigrahi).

Mira is the first female head prefect to be appointed at her boarding school in North India, a responsibility she does not take lightly as she is tasked with keeping classmates and friends in check.

Actress Saiyami Kher, who portrayed the paraplegic sportsperson in ‘Ghoomer’, said she doesn’t give much importance to the social media validation, revealing her influences that have shaped her acting career.

With an inspiring storyline, the movie features a stellar cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Saiyami Kher, Angad Bedi and a special appearance by Amitabh Bachchan.

In ‘Ghoomer’, Saiyami plays Anina Dixit, a talented cricketer whose dreams are shattered by a tragic accident leading to the loss of her right arm. Paddy (played by Abhishek), a former test cricketer, becomes her coach and helps her become the first-ever one-armed spinner, propelling her to play for the Indian national team.

Is social media validation important for the 29-year-old actress? Saiyami told: “I don’t give much importance to social media validation. I take it with a pinch of salt — the love and hatred. The validation I look for is within my friends and family.

Actress Saiyami Kher, who portrayed the paraplegic sportsperson in ‘Ghoomer’, said she doesn’t give much importance to the social media validation, revealing her influences that have shaped her acting career.

With an inspiring storyline, the movie features a stellar cast of Abhishek Bachchan, Shabana Azmi, Saiyami Kher, Angad Bedi and a special appearance by Amitabh Bachchan.

In ‘Ghoomer’, Saiyami plays Anina Dixit, a talented cricketer whose dreams are shattered by a tragic accident leading to the loss of her right arm. Paddy (played by Abhishek), a former test cricketer, becomes her coach and helps her become the first-ever one-armed spinner, propelling her to play for the Indian national team.

Is social media validation important for the 29-year-old actress? Saiyami told: “I don’t give much importance to social media validation. I take it with a pinch of salt — the love and hatred. The validation I look for is within my friends and family.

Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi’s riveting and deliciously sinister mystery-thriller film ‘Kadak Singh’ was inaugurated at the opening ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) in Goa.

A spree of secrets, lies and mysteries unveil themselves as a retrograde amnesiac Kadak Singh, who is seemingly timid and meek may just be something the exact opposite of that, as what looked like a warm family drama story quickly took a dark turn in the film’s trailer.

Boasting suspense, drama, emotional weight, violence and great thrills, the trailer sees Panjak Tripathi as Ak Srivastav aka Kadak Singh, a man who finds himself in a hospital with no memory.

Surrounded by what were once familiar and now unknown faces, Kadak Singh suffers from retrograde amnesia and at the surface appears like a very gentle, nice and meek kind of a person.

That may very well be the case for him now,...

Bollywood actor Pankaj Tripathi’s riveting and deliciously sinister mystery-thriller film ‘Kadak Singh’ was inaugurated at the opening ceremony of the 54th International Film Festival of India (Iffi) in Goa.

A spree of secrets, lies and mysteries unveil themselves as a retrograde amnesiac Kadak Singh, who is seemingly timid and meek may just be something the exact opposite of that, as what looked like a warm family drama story quickly took a dark turn in the film’s trailer.

Boasting suspense, drama, emotional weight, violence and great thrills, the trailer sees Panjak Tripathi as Ak Srivastav aka Kadak Singh, a man who finds himself in a hospital with no memory.

Surrounded by what were once familiar and now unknown faces, Kadak Singh suffers from retrograde amnesia and at the surface appears like a very gentle, nice and meek kind of a person.

That may very well be the case for him now,...

Actor Pankaj Tripathi is all set for his new film ‘Kadak Singh’ which will be directed by National Award winning director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. In his latest outing, the ‘Tashkent Files’ actor will be seen as Ak Shrivastav, a man suffering from retrograde amnesia who gets caught in a web of lies as he tries to recover his memory.

A dramatic and engaging thriller filled with mystery and suspense, the movie follows the perplexing and bewildering journey of Ak Shrivastav, a man who battles retrograde amnesia to recover his memory, only to instead uncover a whole complex web of conflicting narratives from his past mixing up lies and truths.

As he tries to put pieces of his life back together by diving into the recess of his memories, the film delves into his pursuit to expose the truth behind a significant financial crime as he begins unlocking more and more of his past.

Actor Pankaj Tripathi is all set for his new film ‘Kadak Singh’ which will be directed by National Award winning director Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury. In his latest outing, the ‘Tashkent Files’ actor will be seen as Ak Shrivastav, a man suffering from retrograde amnesia who gets caught in a web of lies as he tries to recover his memory.

A dramatic and engaging thriller filled with mystery and suspense, the movie follows the perplexing and bewildering journey of Ak Shrivastav, a man who battles retrograde amnesia to recover his memory, only to instead uncover a whole complex web of conflicting narratives from his past mixing up lies and truths.

As he tries to put pieces of his life back together by diving into the recess of his memories, the film delves into his pursuit to expose the truth behind a significant financial crime as he begins unlocking more and more of his past.

Abhishek Bachchan (“Dasvi”) and Saiyami Kher (“Faadu”) headline “Ghoomer,” a cricket and disability-themed film from R. Balki (“Chup”).

The film follows Anina (Kher), a young batting prodigy who loses her right hand in an accident. An unsympathetic, failed, alcoholic cricketer Paddy (Bachchan) gives her new hope and trains her as a spin bowler with unconventional techniques, inventing a new style of bowling called ghoomer, with the ultimate goal of playing for India. The title is a play on a form of Indian dance that involves twirling the body.

The film also has real-life trans woman Ivanka Das playing Paddy’s house help and adopted sister, veteran Shabana Azmi in a significant role, India’s leading film archivist Shivendra Singh Dungarpur making his acting debut in a pivotal part and Indian cinema legend Amitabh Bachchan playing himself. Murali Kartik who played cricket for the Indian national team for several years, was...

Wiz Films’ yet-untitled film starring Pankaj Tripathi, Sanjana Sanghi, Parvathy Thiruvothu, Jaya Ahsan, Dilip Shankar, Paresh Pahuja, Varun Buddhadev and many more has now hit the floors this December. The film – an investigative drama with a heart-warming story of a dysfunctional family coming together is currently being shot in Mumbai and will later be shot in Kolkata. The film is slated to release in 2023.

Wiz Films a global content production company spearheaded by Viraf Sarkari is all set to entertain and inspire people around the globe through innovative and powerful storytelling. It aims to produce and create original content that inspires people all over the world.

As the film has gone on floors, Producer Viraf Sarkari said “This is our first feature film production and we are extremely delighted to begin this journey with a socially relevant film being put together by a multi-award-winning and talented team of actors such as Pankaj Tripathi,...

Vaibhav Modi, who has written and produced the upcoming streaming series ‘Mukhbir – The Story of a Spy’, has revealed his favourite character from the show, which he enjoyed penning down.

Writers always have their favourites when it comes to characters. With multiple characters the series promises to introduce on screen, Vaibhav spoke about the character he enjoyed creating the most.

He said, “It has to be Colonel Zaidi. While the character is supposed to be cruel and menacing, we wanted people to want to watch more of him. He is a man full of contradictions. On one hand, he is cruel and sadistic and on the other, he is a hardcore nationalist, serious about protecting his country.”

Talking about what makes the character truly compelling for him, Vaibhav shared, “The task of capturing the temperature of his dialogues, sadism and sarcasm was a very interesting process for me as a writer.

Director Pan Nalin is ecstatic about the response to his latest film, Angry Indian Goddesses, a female buddy movie that won the first runner up prize at Tiff’s Grolsch People’s Choice Awards. He’s taking in all the sights of Toronto, and has been shooting a music video for the film with his seven goddesses for the week. We caught up with Nalin before his world premiere to chat about feminism, funding the film, and his goddesses.

Was this film something that was gestating with you for a while?

Earlier when I did Samsara, and Valley of the Flowers, I did have strong female characters. I did write a couple of story lines, but it wasn’t fully developed. But very soon I realized that in India that it was very nearly impossible to raise any funds. You couldn’t even speak, because they [producers] would say, “Decades ago...

The brilliant Adil Husain, so convincing as Sridevi's unintentionally cruel husband in English Vinglish, is now going to be seen as Tabu's husband in Ang Lee's The Life Of Pi, which releases in English, Hindi and other dubbed languages on November 23. In fact at the premiere if English Vinglish last week Adil, who is a seasoned stage actor and acting teacher, trained at the National School of Drama, sat and watched the film with Tabu. Says the actor fondly, "Yes, I met up with my latest screen-wife at the English Vinglish premiere. Tabu is very special, just like Sridevi. In fact my first screen-wife Vidya Balan from Ishqiya, was also there at the premiere. So I got a chance to meet up with my three glorious screen-wives all at the same venue. It was a pleasure working with all three of them." Adil who never craved for a career in movie acting,...