Upala KBR (MID-DAY; June 28, 2019)

Kiara Advani has little time to bask in the box-office success of Kabir Singh. The actor has dived headlong into the shoot of Netflix's original, Guilty, in Delhi. The web film, produced by Karan Johar's Dharmatic and marking her second digital outing after Lust Stories (2018), sees her as a rebel musician who stands by her boyfriend when he is accused of rape. Turns out, Advani was keen to explore a headstrong character after having played the submissive girlfriend in her recent outing.

A trade source reveals, "Karan was one of the first people to recognise Kiara's talent and of late, has become invested in her career. When the final script of Guilty was ready, Karan Johar thought that the lead character — who is rebellious and has a don't-give-a-damn attitude — would be a change of pace for her. Kiara too understood that the Ruchi Narain-directed film will give her the opportunity to drive the narrative as the script unfolds from the woman's perspective.

The material gives her enough scope as an artiste — while she starts out as an opinionated girl who believes in her boyfriend's innocence, doubts arise as she delves deeper into the incident. So excited was she to slip into the part that she offered to colour her hair ash-blonde instead of sporting a wig, to achieve the grunge look."

Netflix remained unavailable for comment.