Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap says his biggest fear today is not being able to make the kind of cinema he truly believes in. Speaking at the 17th Bengaluru International Film Festival (BIFFES) 2026 during the Fearless Filmmaking session on Saturday, Anurag said films such as Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz would not be made in the current climate.

“Gangs Of Wasseypur or Mukkabaaz would not have been made today because of the themes I chose to tell those stories with. And even if they were released, they would be heavily censored,” he said.

Anurag also noted that several honest filmmakers are attempting to find ways around censorship. “India is still better, and that gives me hope. If filmmakers can make cinema in Russia and China, we can too,” he said in conversation with critic and writer Baradwaj Rangan. “Movies that spark important conversations will be made in India at some point. We just need to wait,” he said.

Cinema, Anurag said, has always been meant for the big screen. However, with the rise of OTT platforms and the convenience they offer, audiences are increasingly consuming films on smaller devices. “When I made Nishaanchi, I envisioned it entirely for the big screen. But times have changed. People now watch films at their convenience. The format has destroyed the way cinema is experienced,” he said.

Emphasizing the importance of the theatrical experience, he added, “The joy of cinema is watching it on a big screen. You can’t watch Mera Naam Joker or Sholay on a phone. These films are made for the theatre, and it’s a disgrace if they’re watched otherwise.”

Responding to the backlash around the trailer of the upcoming Kannada film Toxic, Kashyap said he enjoyed it and felt the reaction on social media was exaggerated.

“When a woman is in control of her sexuality and enjoys it on screen, it becomes a problem. But when male actors do the same, no one says anything,” he said, adding, “Social media controls the narrative, and this was blown out of proportion.”

Known for their love for sports, Neha Dhupia and Angad Bedi were in for a treat in Melbourne, where they witnessed the clash between tennis greats Carlos Alcaraz and Novak Djokovic at the Australian Open. After the thrilling final, Neha met Djokovic.

An ecstatic Neha says, “I have been a die-hard Djokovic fan. I was screaming his name the whole time and rooting for him. We usually watch these games on TV, but watching the final live is a completely different experience. Even when the house was divided, it was united in its love for tennis. Both players had incredible support — people took sides but truly honoured the game and each player’s contribution. There was pin-drop silence during the match; you could actually hear the ball bouncing. I wasn’t sure if Djokovic would make it to the finals, but he did, and I got to witness it.”

Recalling her encounter with the tennis champ, Neha shares, “We were a group of 20 walking towards the centre court at Rod Laver Arena after the match when Djokovic happened to be walking out. For the first few seconds, I was speechless. I wasn’t sure whether to approach him. He had played exceptionally well but hadn’t won the trophy and looked exhausted. But I finally told him, ‘I’m not giving you a choice, you have to click a photograph,’ and he was so gracious. I told him we were from India and that this was a bucket-list moment for me. I was overwhelmed and thrilled.”

She adds, “This experience was extra special because I’m an avid tennis watcher and my entire family follows sports. My dad was thrilled that I got to witness this. Swedish legend Stefan Edberg was seated right behind us, while Rafael Nadal was in the front. It was surreal. I’m honestly falling short of words to describe how I felt... like a bumbling teenager. That definitely checked off a major item on my bucket list.”

So, your doctor is a man?” he asks, eyes on the road. “Yes,” she shrugs, head wrapped in a scarf. “The oncologist is a man. He was referred to me by my gynaecologist.” “Okay. She must be sure of his credentials then.” “He. My gynaecologist is a man.” “What? You mean he touches you?”

Questionable questions, awkward puns, well-timed expletives and several unreciprocated high-fives animate ‘Breast of Luck’, a play whose protagonists choose to sing, dance and laugh their way through the grimness of cancer.

Co-written and staged by Tannishtha Chatterjee — who was diagnosed with stage IV oligometastatic cancer last year — and Sharib Hashmi, whose wife has beaten mouth cancer four times, the musical comedy, directed by Leena Yadav, opened at the G5A in Mumbai recently to a packed house.

The room included Naseeruddin Shah, Dia Mirza, Tanvi Azmi and Divya Dutta, apart from Chatterjee’s doctors and cancer survivors. At the end of the first show, Chatterjee turned to the room and said, “Honestly, I don’t know how I am doing except that I have stopped chasing certainty.” Shah reassured her: “This is the most cathartic and best thing you could have done for yourself.”

To be staged at the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival on February 4 to mark World Cancer Day, the script sees opposites distract before they attract. Sheila Roy is a cool, composed classical singer, while Arun Mohan is a goofy divorced stockbroker who punctuates dad jokes with high-fives. When she launches into her riyaaz every morning at 5, he winces and rings her up on the intercom, begging her to stop. Their heated exchanges morph into real-world meetings on a dating app. Just as Roy begins to enjoy Mohan’s company, the story swerves: she is diagnosed with stage IV oligometastatic breast cancer.

She pushes Mohan away, convinced love will only expose her vulnerability. He refuses to leave, insisting on staying, his caregiving peppered with relentless puns. That refusal to surrender humour, intimacy or companionship to illness anchors the play’s emotional centre.

Often reduced to a serious trope in movies, the Big C finds its funny bone in the drama. “Exactly. That is the USP,” Hashmi says. “Otherwise, it could easily have become a sad story. We chose to see it from a lighter side — with songs, jokes, laughter.”

The play draws from a deep personal well. Interspersed through the second half are real hospital visuals — insurance IVRs (interactive voice responses), chemotherapy rooms, and injections. At one point, you watch Chatterjee singing through an injection. “The targeted medicine was extremely painful. But when I sing, those 10 minutes used to pass more quickly,” says Chatterjee, who had invited her friend, a documentary cinematographer, to shoot on the last day of her chemo.

Music, laughter and community sustained Chatterjee through the medical journey. Incidentally, Chatterjee — best known for her performances in ‘Dekh Indian Circus’ (2011), ‘Gulaab Gang’ (2014), and ‘Angry Indian Goddesses’ (2015) — was supposed to meet Hashmi of ‘Family Man’ and ‘Filmistaan’ fame on the day her biopsy report arrived. Hashmi had been shooting for her film ‘Full Plate’ and had casually discussed a collaboration.

“The day I got my report, I was supposed to meet Sharib for coffee. I almost cancelled,” she recalls. “I was devastated. But I thought if I go home, I’ll have to tell my mother and I’ll feel worse. So I went.”

A year before Chatterjee was diagnosed, she had lost her father to cancer.

“He died in my arms in the hospital ICU. He was so full of life. When I was diagnosed, my main concern was my mom, who’s 70 plus. How would I give this news to her? Because it wasn’t stage one, or stage two, or even stage three — it was stage four.”

When she confided in Hashmi, he called his wife Nasreen, who has lived with cancer since 2018. “She gave me a lot of strength,” Chatterjee says. “She said, ‘Look at me. I’ve relapsed four times. I’m here. I’m doing everything.’ After that call, I looked at Sharib and said, let’s write a play for her.”

The script took shape during chemotherapy. Rehearsals were scheduled between hospital visits. Improvisations were shaped as much by pain as by laughter. “I was writing while going through treatment. I wanted to laugh constantly. I didn’t want to pull myself down,” says Chatterjee, who found humour in the mundane — doctors clinically debating silicone implants, nurses scolding her and her friends for laughing too loudly in hospital rooms.

The rehearsals weren’t easy. “I had, and still have, terrible nerve damage in my shoulder and left arm. Everyone had to be careful while hugging me or touching me because it’s excruciating if it goes beyond a certain range of mobility.”

Hashmi relates to Arun Mohan not only as a performer but as a caregiver. “After my wife’s diagnosis, our lives changed completely,” he says. “But she treated cancer like a fever — with courage, humour, incredible strength. We tried to bring that spirit into the play.”

Medical professionals echo that sentiment carefully. Breast oncoplastic surgeon Dr Vani Parmar notes that a cancer diagnosis often arrives as a shock, particularly for younger women. “The treatments — radical surgeries, long chemotherapy sessions, hair loss, weakness — lead to immense physical, emotional, social and financial strain, along with a constant fear of recurrence and death,” she says. Changes to appearance, she adds, often trigger anxiety and depression. “‘Chemo brain’, or brain fog, is also part of the territory.”

Chatterjee recalls days when she told her doctor she couldn’t do another chemo cycle. “He understood. He knew that in three days, I’d feel differently.” That reassurance — from doctors and fellow survivors — mattered enormously.

While psychological counselling is not routinely integrated into many hospitals, it is increasingly being recognised as an essential part of cancer care.

Dr. Priyadarshini Deo, counsellor at the Centre for Cancer and Palliative Care at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, points to studies showing that humour and movement-based activities can significantly enhance emotional health. “Humour and lightness reduce stress, ease anxiety, improve communication and strengthen relationships, especially with caregivers,” she says.

A case for lightness arrives in actor Lisa Ray’s memoir Close to the Bone, in which she recalls the day she was diagnosed with cancer by a “jittery, rabbit-faced doctor”. “He spoke very slowly, pausing for a long time between each word, as if to gauge my reaction. You. Have. Multiple. Myeloma.”

The doctor, Ray writes, reminded her of the rabbit in ‘Alice in Wonderland’. “As he kicked me down the hole, he never said the word ‘cancer’.” “Oh,” Ray replied. “Do you want me to get you some water?”

Her response, she writes, might seem strange. “But he did look parched. Also, it never occurred to me that I wouldn’t get better… I was framing it as just another adventure.”

Apart from music, what sustained Chatterjee after her diagnosis was community. “I cried alone in my car with my reports,” she says. “My sister told me — you can’t save yourself alone.” Friends video-called her and joked about everything from Trump’s antics to local absurdities. “It helped me sleep. It made me feel light.”

Why, we ask her, is cancer so often portrayed in popular culture only through despair and solemnity? “Because it usually comes from an external perspective, not lived experience,” Chatterjee says. “I think there’s a fear — how can I be sensitive (towards the topic)? I was fearless because it’s me.”

The play does not trivialise her struggles, including her prolonged insurance battles. Her arguments with an automated voice convey her frustration. “The day my insurance refused me, I was at my lowest. The treatment is excruciatingly expensive. I’m not a commercial actor. I’m an alternative, arthouse actor. I’m not rolling in money. And I have a mother and a daughter to take care of,” says Chatterjee. Her daughter lived with the actor’s sister in the US during treatment.

Care for the caregiver, too, is crucial, Dr Parmar reminds us. “There is emotional burnout, financial strain and disrupted routines. Clear communication, shared decision-making and emotional support make the biggest difference.” She urges the integration of psychological and financial support into standard cancer care. “Good healthcare at an affordable cost is a right.”

“My doctors told me this isn’t just about cancer,” Chatterjee says. “In any illness, people should watch it — to see how art, music, laughter and community are therapeutic.”

The audience response suggests the message has landed. Survivors have cried and laughed in equal measure. Caregivers have recognised themselves. Those who have lost loved ones have found something gentler than grief alone. Hashmi’s wife has seen the play three times. “She loved it,” he says.

From choosing mental health work over films to embracing a quieter lifestyle, superstar Aamir Khan and Reena Dutta’s daughter Ira Khan in an interview talks about battling depression, how her parents are her support system and why she does not party with star kids.

Ira, who has faced body shaming and mental health struggles in the past, is clear about one thing — films are not her calling. While her brother (Junaid Khan) is already part of the film industry, Ira has chosen a different path and says her work with a NGO defines her career.

“I’ve been working full-time at a NGO for the past five years, with one break in the middle for my mental health. It is my career. I don’t want to pursue films,” she says.

Her decision stems from lived experience rather than rebellion. “After my experience with depression, there seems to be no point in doing anything else with my life. And I get to explore my creative side through the NGO as well.”

Ira credits her father Aamir Khan for shaping her values and work ethic. “I think there are some very helpful things that I have learnt from my dad that I am very grateful for. His work ethic is one of them. He’s always learning new things. The other thing that he’s taught me is to stay true to what I believe in.” 

She adds, “I truly believe that if I were ever in trouble, I can always reach out to my parents — no hesitation and no shame.”

Unlike most celebrity kids, Ira doesn’t enjoy clubbing or loud social scenes. “I like to socialize. I don’t necessarily go out to clubs and party. It’s too loud, and there are too many people,” she explains. Her recovery from depression has changed her lifestyle and priorities. “Since my recovery journey through my depression, I’ve realized sleep is very important to me. So I don’t do late nights, but I socialize in my own way -— karaoke at home, craft hang-outs, just hanging out at home.”

Ira says marriage with fitness coach Nupur Shikhare hasn’t dramatically altered her life. “Life after marriage has been pretty much the same as life before marriage. Which I think is a good thing,” she says, adding that the decision was well thought out.

“I mean, I made a thought-through decision, and we both knew what we were getting into and are very happy about our decision. Even Popeye’s (Nupur Shikhare) bad jokes.”

She also shares that living with her husband and mother-in-law has been smooth. “Life with my husband and mother-in-law has been good. As I said, we’d been living together for a while.”

Having spoken openly about her body image issues and personal complexes, Ira says fitness has now become part of her self-care. Participating in the Mumbai Marathon helped her restart that journey.

She says, “The Mumbai Marathon was definitely a great way for me to kickstart my fitness journey again. There was definitely a big selfish plus side of ‘Hey! This will mean I will have to get fit!’”

O'ROMEO struggled at the box office over the first weekend as it collected almost 27 crore nett. The opening day was not good but it was good enough to keep the film in the race if merits where there. However, the film could not really get the growth needed on Saturday and Sunday was always going to be tough with the cricket match.

The film needed a 70-80% jump on Saturday and it fell short of that and then Sunday dropped. The Sunday drop was pretty much in alignment of the other releases so that is normal. The weekend collections are pretty much the same as TERI BAATON MEIN AISA ULJHA JIYA which did 26 crore nett over three days but it had a lower start. The trend of that film is stronger and although O'ROMEO may have been hit by the match on Sunday, it got a boost on Saturday for Valentine's Day which equals things up.

The film has the buy one get one offer on Monday which will help to an extent but the fact that the offer is there on the fourth day of release pretty much tells the film has not really worked the way it should. The offer being there on Monday means you are signaling to the industry that it has disappointed over the weekend. 

The collections of O'ROMEO are as follows.

Friday - 7,50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 11,00,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 8,25,00,000 apprx

The other release TU YAA MAIN collected 2.50 crore nett plus over its first weekend. The film got benefit of Valentine's Day but the fall was also bigger the next day than the other releases being screened including O'ROMEO. There are hardly any collections outside Mumbai and Mysore. These two circuits probably contribute around 50% of the business.

The collections of TU YAA MAIN are as follows.

Friday - 50,00,000 apprx

Saturday - 1,35,00,000 apprx

Sunday - 75,00,000 apprx

BORDER 2 saw a drop in collections in the fourth weekend due to the new releases but still, it managed to do well on Saturday. On Sunday, the collections came down due to the match. The film collected 4.25 crore nett over its fourth weekend which now takes the film to 309 crore nett. Now, the film will collect at low levels though it can hang around for a few weeks due to lack of releases.

The job is done though and the film is a SUPER HIT with BLOCKBUSTER collections in Delhi/UP, East Punjab, Rajasthan and Bihar. There will be circuits like Nizam/Andhra and Mysore which will do less than HIT business but the main market is the Hindi speaking belts. These areas have out performed and when this happens it also means a longer term appreciation on satellite. 

The film will be the 8th highest grossing film ever in East Punjab and its probably going to be a similar position in Bihar while Rajasthan it could even get to sixth with only PUSHPA 2 - THE RULE, GADAR 2, DHURANDHAR, STREE 2 and BAAHUBALI 2: THE CONCLUSION ahead of it. Delhi/UP is likely to see it get into the top ten. The weakest performance is Nizam/Andhra which will just about cross 10 crore nett  and this is less than FIGHTER (2024).

The collections of BORDER 2 till date are as follows.

Friday - 75,00,000

Saturday - 2,00,00,000

Sunday - 1,50,00,000 apprx 

For 17 years, Yash Raj Films (YRF) has been home to Abhiraj Minawala, who worked as an assistant director on its several productions. It’s not surprising then that YRF head honcho Aditya Chopra gave him the duty of helming Mardaani 3, led by Rani Mukerji.

Minawala tells mid-day, “Among the many ideas we discussed, one dealt with the emotions of a parent and a child [against the backdrop of] human trafficking. As soon as I read the script of Mardaani 3, as a father, I was scared. So, the decision of taking this up was more important to me as a father than a filmmaker.”

Minawala may have made his directorial debut with Loveyatri (2019) outside the YRF fold, but his equation with Chopra has always been of faith. So much so that the producer recommended him to Shah Rukh Khan for a few sequences of Jawan (2023).

“I ended up working on two-three small sequences in Jawan. Shah Rukh sir is so sweet. He just called and said, ‘Beta kya kar raha hai? Chal, aaja.’ That’s it,” he recalls.

Ever since prominent producers including Karan Johar (Dharma Productions), Sajid Nadiadwala (Nadiadwala Grandson Entertainment), Ektaa Kapoor (Balaji Telefilms), Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani (Excel Entertainment), Zoya Akhtar (Tiger Baby Films) among others were seen leaving actor-producer Aamir Khan’s residence in Mumbai on Thursday, the film industry was abuzz with speculation about what might have been the reason behind the same.

While parties involved have remained tight-lipped about the meeting’s agenda, a well-placed source tells HT City that it was to resolve the ongoing issue between an actor and Excel Entertainment.

“Aamir is trying to resolve the rift between Ranveer Singh and Excel Entertainment. The meeting at his place was to address the same,” the source informs.

Excel Entertainment has sought Rs. 40 crore from actor Ranveer Singh after his exit from Don 3 for alleged financial losses.

In its first 10 seconds, the trailer of Assi tells you a chilling statistic — that there are 80 reported rape cases in India every day. “That’s one every 20 minutes. By the time you finish this interview, one more would have happened,” director Anubhav Sinha told us, when we met him to discuss his upcoming film that sees Taapsee Pannu as a lawyer, who takes up the case of a sexual assault survivor, essayed by Kani Kusruti.

With Assi, Sinha aims to show how rape culture is rooted in patriarchy. More importantly, he wants to examine our society’s generational failure. “Mothers tell their daughters at 13 that this [sexual violence] may happen, and this is how you deal with it. But men don’t tell their sons about gender equality. We don’t tell them that you might be attracted to another person’s body, but you can’t snatch it,” he rued.

The director teamed up with Gaurav Solanki to write the social drama. Yet, they entered the writing process at a disadvantage. “Every time Gaurav and I went to write a scene, we were trying to think like a woman. That was the toughest part for me. I was watching a lot of films about women to understand women, to feel like one.”

Reuniting with Pannu after Thappad (2020) was a deliberate choice. The director knew she’d front the film for the right reasons. “I meet a lot of actors who want to be in my movies because they think they should want to be in a movie like that. That doesn’t work for me. You will see Taapsee’s honesty in her eyes. She walks the talk.”

It’s a big week for Richa Chadha, as she will kick off the shoot of her new OTT series, marking her first acting project since embracing motherhood. Currently sifting through scripts to determine her line-up of projects, the actor and producer is adopting an open door policy. She wants independent filmmakers to approach her with stories that she can act in or produce.

“Independent filmmakers often assume actors like me are inaccessible, but that’s not true. If the story is honest and the intent is right, I want to be part of that conversation. I’m putting an open door policy in place. If you believe in your script, reach out,” said the actor.

Chadha’s filmography is proof that sometimes the finest stories emerge from new talents. Early on in her career, the actor worked with Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and Neeraj Ghaywan on their respective maiden directorial features, ‘Fukrey’ (2013) and ‘Masaan’ (2015). As a new producer, she bet on indie director Shuchi Talati, and from it emerged the wonderful ‘Girls Will Be Girls’ (2024).

Nurturing independent cinema is crucial to her, said Chadha, adding, “The next path-breaking movie will come from indie cinema. That’s where real risk-taking and originality live.”