Adah Sharma will star in a Bollywood romantic comedy which has a man falling in love with a woman, who identifies as a man
Elina Nayak (BOMBAY TIMES; May 10, 2019)

Adah Sharma began her acting career playing a woman possessed by the spirit of a dead man in Vikram Bhatt’s horror drama, 1920 in 2008. Now, she is all set to play a man on the big screen. About her upcoming Bollywood romantic-comedy, Man To Man, the actress says, “I feel so lucky to have gotten a chance to portray a role like this. It’s something no other actress has done till now in the mainstream Indian cinema.” Excerpts from a chat:

What was your first reaction when you learnt about the role?
Director Abir Sengupta didn’t tell me upfront that I will be playing a man. When he met me to narrate the story, it seemed like a typical ‘boy meets girl and falls in love’ kind of a story. But midway through the narration, he revealed that the girl is, in fact, a guy! I was completely taken aback and I was like, ‘What? Really!’ Naveen Kasturia plays the man who falls in love with my character, who reciprocates his feeling after the initial wooing. But what happens when he learns that his girl is a guy, is what the film is all about. I am very happy that Abir chose me for a role that will represent the LGBTQI+ community in a positive light.

What is your character like?
From the outside, my character looks like a woman in every sense — wears dresses and shorts and looks like a pretty girl with whom any guy will fall in love with. But in reality, she is a man. I was blown away by the sensitivity with which the role was written. Portraying the character has pushed my acting skills. It’s a role that will surprise, entertain and educate the audience in equal measure. I am proud of it.

This sounds like a first-of-its-kind romantic comedy. Tell us more.
More than a love story, it’s a film that seeks to normalise gender identities that are termed queer. It tells the world to accept people for who they are. It also encourages people to be comfortable in their skin, even if they don’t fit into the conventional gender roles that prescribe how we should be rather than recognising how we are or how we feel. As they say, the soul has no gender, does it? Whether you are born male or female, you should be allowed to be what you identify yourself as. The film also shows how people from the LBGTQI+ community are bullied by their family, friends and society at large. Having said that, we are not trying to be preachy.

This is a romantic comedy, but the humour will be sensitive. The makers are planning to dub the film in multiple languages. It is a universal film that will resonate with everyone.

What kind of prep did you undergo to get into the skin of your character?
A lot of homework went into acquainting myself with the state of mind, psychology and the struggles that trans people face. After all, the way we behave, talk and express is a reflection of what we feel about ourselves. I wanted the portrayal to be as authentic as possible. Abir’s inputs were of great help, too.

You also have a Telugu film Kalki in the offing besides another Hindi film...
Yes, we’ve finished shooting for Kalki. It’s an investigative thriller set in the ’80s. I play an independent girl and have a retro look in the film. Then, there is Commando 3. The audience will see me in an action-packed avatar in the movie. I am glad that I am getting to portray diverse roles. 

BOMBAY TIMES (April 21, 2019)

After the Punjabi film Sajjan Singh Rangroot, which starred Diljit Dosanjh and Sunanda Sharma, Jay Sahni, owner of Vivid Arthouse, is now set to join hands with Abir Sengupta and Anushree Mehta of Anushree Abir Entertainment. The duo had earlier backed the Bengali film Jomer Raja Dilo Bor. The trio unites to produce a Hindi feature film titled Man to Man.

The movie stars Adah Sharma and Naveen Kasturia in lead roles and has been written and directed by Abir. It has been talked about for its quirky subject — sex reassignment surgery. The story sees Naveen falling in love and marrying Adah, only to later realise that she was a man who became a woman after undergoing a sex reassignment surgery.

“It's a great role. It’s something that no one has attempted before. The comedy will connect with people of all genders and ages,” said Adah. Naveen, who has been doing interesting work in the digital space, said, “I really liked the script and the director's passion for the project. The role that I was offered was different. I had fun portraying the same on the screen.”

Speaking about his first Hindi outing, Jay Sahni said, “We couldn’t have asked for a better beginning than this. We have a perfect combination of good content and an apt cast coming together. I have wanted to work with Adah and I got to do that in my very first Hindi film.” Anushree Mehta added, “Abir is also my business partner and as a company, our endeavour is to make sure that our content stands out. This film is one such dream come true.”

Man to Man, which is in the last stages of post-production, was shot entirely in Mumbai. Abir said, “This film is a tribute to the LGBTQIA+ community, which is trying to find acceptance from their loved ones as well as the society. I am grateful to the cast and crew of the movie, who helped me realise my dream.” 

In debutant director Gaurav S Sinha’s film Swara Bhasker takes centrestage as the root cause of four bachelors’ nightmares
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 24, 2018)

Forty-five years ago, Nasir Hussain’s sibling-drama Yaadon Ki Baraat featured a memorable RD Burman compositon called “Aapke Kamre Mein Koi Rehta Hai.” Now, Gaurav S Sinha has borrowed the title of the song for his directorial debut, a horror-comedy featuring Swara Bhasker, Sumeet Vyas, Naveen Kasturia, Amol Parashar and Ashish Verma.

“Our film has nothing to do with the 1973 blackbuster. It’s all about looking for accommodation,” Ashish is quick to point out, adding that Aapkey Kamrey Mein Koi Rehta Hai (the film) follows four bachelors who are looking for a rental accomodation in Mumbai and come across a dream apartment which is big, beautiful and too good to be true.”

Letting the cat out of the bag, Sumeet says, “Swara is our biggest horror.” He however admits that the shoot has been a joyride with a bunch of friends working together.

Gaurav, who has also written the script, began working with art director duo Prerna Kathuria and Ranjit Singh last year to convert an empty office space into a 4000 sq ft four-BHK from scratch for the unit to shoot in.

“It’s a quirky, edgy film. We got the narration together and were convinced with Gaurav’s vision. His sense of humour had us cracking up but at the same time we were a little apprehensive because it’s a hard film to pull off,” Sumeet reveals, while Ashish adds, “Despite all the chills and thrills, the four bachelors never leave each other’s side in the film.”

Naseeruddin Shah plays a patriarch whose refusal to part with a faulty piece of equipment leads to conflict and hilarity in his next
Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; April 11, 2018)

Debutant director Sudip Bandhopadhyay admits that his film, Hope Aur Hum, is autobiographical in that it takes after the idiosyncrasies of his own family members. The family-drama, which he has written and directed, features Naseeruddin Shah as the 70-year-old patriarch Nagesh Srivastava, who is unwilling to get rid of his malfunctioning photocopy machine for emotional reasons. Aamir Bashir and Naveen Kasturia play his sons.

Sudip points out that the slice-of-life film follows each character as they adapt to change in their own way. “While circumstances are the film’s main villain, I managed to cast fantastic sons for Naseer with Aamir, who plays a bank employee waiting for a promotion, and Naveen, who plays the younger brother who is an architect. They not only look like real brothers, but are also spitting images of Naseer from his younger days.”

The filmmaker adds that Sonali Kulkarni plays Naseer’s daughter-in-law and a mother-of-two. “Sonali’s character Aditi comes from a royal family and even though her in-laws are well-off, she is frustrated with the space constraints that come with sharing a Mumbai house with a joint family. She is keen to get rid of the copy machine so that she can convert the space into a room for her kids. It leads to funny arguments within the family,” Sudip reveals.

The ad filmmaker-turned-director had auditioned child actor Kabir Sajid Shaikh for several commercials in the past, but had never managed to cast him in a role. “I finally found a role for him in Anu, Aditi’s son, who loves playing cricket,” Sudip says.

Since the family is Mumbai based, the unit shot in Bandra and Madh island, with some portions canned at a palace near Palgarh. “I was keen to request veteran, award winning cinematographer Ravi K Chandran, who resides in the same building as me, to spare one of his assistants to shoot my film. He’s constantly shuffling between Chennai and Mumbai and I caught him once asking him it was possible. He asked me about my film and then questioned me in return as to why I wasn’t asking him to shoot my film. I told him it was a small, independent feature but he insisted. I was thrilled. He came on board with a plethora of experience and the cast was so excited to have him on board,” Sudip says.

Letty Mariam Abraham (MID-DAY; August 30, 2017)

He might have started out as an assistant director, but Naveen Kasturia knew that he belonged in front of the camera, not behind it. His belief has been validated since — after winning acclaim for his acts in Sulemani Keeda (2014) and TVF Pitchers (2015), Kasturia has now been roped in to play Darbari Lal in the web series, Bose Dead/Alive.

Kasturia tells mid-day, “The story is narrated from my point of view. I play a hawaldar who witnesses the revolution led by Subhash Chandra Bose.” Working with Rajkummar Rao, who plays the enigmatic leader, brought back memories for Kasturia — the latter was an assistant director on Rao’s Love Sex Aur Dhokha (2010). “I remember I’d go to the vanity van to call Raj for his shots,” he reminisces and goes on to add, “I was nervous about shooting with Raj. He gave me tips to get my character right, also teaching me how to smoke, for a scene.”

Besides Bose, the actor has also begun shooting for a new web series, Social, that stars Rana Daggubati. About his role, Kasturia says, “I play a doting brother who is in search of his missing sister. The kidnapping goes on to unravel many more mysteries.”

With two web series and a film with Naseeruddin Shah under his belt, he feels his career is finally shaping up the way he had envisioned. “After Pitchers, I felt I had arrived. But, I wasn’t offered anything for a year. Now, things are finally picking up. Acting has given me respect and exposure. It’s all I want to do.”

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; August 23, 2017)

After SS Rajamouli’s Baahubali 2, Rana Daggubati has been filming two Telugu films, and is now working on a Telugu-Hindi bi-lingual show, Social, in Hyderabad. It also features Jazbaa actress Priya Banerjee and Naveen Kasturia, who became a household name with the online series Pitchers. The sibling-drama revolves around a kidnapping and the ensuing cat-and-mouse chase that brings into focus the menace of cyber-crime and how social media can put a life to risk.

Shashi Sudigala, who is wielding the microphone for the thriller series, kicked off shooting last week. The first season is expected to feature 11-12 episodes and will be filmed entirely in Hyderabad with wrapup scheduled for September-end.

“The show will be aired across South and North India simultaneously so the makers were keen to cast faces from both industries. Rana earned nationwide fame with Baahubali and Priya has appeared in multiple South films, including three Telugu projects — Kiss, Joru and Asura, so Shashi was keen to cast them,” reveals a source.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; July 27, 2017)

Soon after her acting debut as a young college student named Rihanna Abidi in the recently released Alankrita Srivastava film, Lipstick Under My Burkha, which features Konkona Sen Sharma and Ratna Pathak Shah in lead roles, Plabita Borthakur has already started work on her second film.

The yet-untitled film by FTII alumnus and debutant filmmaker, Dinesh Yadav, follows a young boy, played by Sulemani Keeda actor and web series breakout star Naveen Kasturia, who is accused of bringing bad luck to his village.

Plabita plays Naveen’s childhood love, who he tries to reunite with during the course of the film. It is set in the remote villages of Rajasthan and Gujarat and Plabita will be seen as a small town girl alongside seasoned actors like Sanjay Mishra and Vijay Raaz. “I’m quite excited about it because once I started reading the script, I was hooked. It was a page-turner,” Plabita says.

Sanyukta Iyer (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 11, 2016)



Nil Battey Sannata actress Swara Bhaskar is teaming up with three of web world’s most popular faces —Permanent Roommates actor Sumeet Vyas, Tripling’s bratty Amol Parashar and Pitchers leading man Naveen Kasturia — for a yet-to-be-titled light-hearted, urban comedy revolving around relationships among young professionals. Set to kick off later this month, it will be shot across Mumbai at real locations and marks the directorial debut of Gaurav Sinha who has written Aanand L Rai’s 2007 drama, Strangers.

“My character has my wry cynicism. And yes, I admit that I’ve been in a 'confused' relationship like this too and it’s definitely not fun,” Swara tells Mirror, adding, “I think the peril of modern-day dating is that young people underestimate the intensity of their emotional attachments and pretend to be cool… casual… often bordering on disinterested, when that is not really the case. This is a set-up for all kinds of chaos that follows.”

The film also focuses on the blurring of traditional institutions because urban women are now more demanding and free and expect men to adjust accordingly.

Swara is excited to play Sumeet’s love interest in the film, pointing out that the roomie’s best quality as an actor is his spontaneity and ability to think on his feet. “He also has a lot of energy and is great fun. We’ve worked briefly together in the past and I am looking forward to shooting a film with him now,” beams the actress.

Sumeet is quick to add that this time he’s not playing the victim in love and instead is quite the charming player. “The film is a situational comedy, high on drama, and portrays relationships very differently. I pounced on my part when I heard the script,” laughs the actor who is presently filming Rakhee Sandilya’s Ribbon opposite National Award-winning actress Kalki Koechlin.

The Viral Fever’s faces on coming to terms with being recognised on the streets for their popular videos
Deepali Singh (DNA; July 17, 2016)


Anonymous no more
While all of them have been associated with the creative fields in some form or the other — Kasturia even acted in the movie Sulemani Keeda — they all owe their popularity to The Viral Fever (TVF). The online digital entertainment channel’s web sketches such as Tech Conversations with Dad, Ek Thi Behen, Chai Sutta Chronicles and Rowdies among others and web series such as Permanent Roommates and Pitchers, have made them online stars. So much so, that even the guy at the local train’s ticketing window recognised Kumar as ‘Jitu from that TVF show’ and refused to take any money! “I had to request him to take it as it was sarkaari money after all,” laughs Kumar.

No Dilli-return
Leaving a successful law career behind, Bisht came to Mumbai from Delhi seven years ago, while Kumar, who hails from Khairtal, Rajasthan quit an engineering project in Bangalore to pursue his passion for acting.

Kasturia also moved bag and baggage from Delhi eight years ago and was an assistant director in movies such as Shanghai and LSD before landing a role in the movie Sulemani Keeda, and later, a sketch called Rowdies for TVF and then the lead role in Pitchers. “Till my fourth year in Mumbai, my parents kept telling me to leave this ‘hobby’ and come back to Delhi,” he recalls.

Thakur, from Mumbai, too had to face opposition from home as her parents did not entirely approve of her career choice. “For a long time, they didn’t understand what I was doing. Of course, now they watch all the shows,” she says, while Kumar shares that his father who has grown to love his shows, sends him a letter with a self-written poem after each sketch.

Yeh dosti…
Most of these actors have known each other when they were struggling to get a break. Bisht has known Kasturia from her Delhi theatre days (“He is my oldest friend in Mumbai. If I ever write an autobiography one chapter will be dedicated to him,” she quips while he retorts, “She has stayed with me in my house when she shifted to the city, made Maggi and swept my house too.”), she was Thakur’s first director in a play that they both did together. Kumar was TVF’s writer and Creative Director Biswapati Sarkar’s junior in IIT-Kharagpur and has known him for many years. “The other day somebody mentioned that it’s been a little more than four years that Rowdies came out and I was like ‘Really, has it been only four years? Feels like we’ve all known each other since forever,” smiles Bisht.

Thakur, too, met Bisht while they were both doing plays in Mumbai. “I first met her during the play Afwaah where I acted and she was doing backstage production,” recalls Bisht, while Kasturia adds that he was a part of Afwaah, but got thrown out due to some issues. “Was it because you reached late?” Kumar teases him, knowing his penchant for coming late. “One of my bosses once told me, ‘Naveen your problem is not that you’re getting late, it is that you’re getting late and you don’t even show any urgency to resolve that,” laughs Kasturia. Ask them if they would like to continue their association with the stage and Bisht replies, “Yes of course. I have my own theatre production company and once things are more settled here, I would like to do at least one production a year.”

Eye on the bigger picture
There is a whole lot of stuff happening at TVF, including new sketches, web series and hopefully, even a movie by next year. “The ultimate dream is to do movies and be a part of them. All of us want that and are working towards it,” says Kumar, and Kasturia, in an aside, tells us that he would love to work with Alia Bhatt. “I think she’s the best actor we have now,” he adds.

Bisht also has something interesting up her sleeve, but isn’t willing to reveal much at this point. At TVF, Season 2 of Pitchers will be out by next year and Kasturia and Kumar are looking forward to that. With so much excitement in their lives, we proceed to take their leave but before we do, we have to ask Kumar and Thakur the one thing that most viewers of their shows would love to know — Are they seeing each other? “We’re both single,” they laugh and answer together, while Bisht comments, “They are the Shah Rukh-Kajol of our TVF. But they are both ‘just good friends’. They maintain that and so do we.”

Sonup Sahadevan (MID-DAY; May 8, 2015)

Of late, Bollywood has been plunging into uncharted waters, exploring themes that were hitherto untouched. It has emerged that filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, who is known for his experimentations with offbeat cinema, has written a short film on circumcision.

Titled Skin Deep, the project has been helmed by his assistant Hardik Mehta and is part of Chaar Cutting, a collection of four short films.

The movie revolves around the trials and tribulations of a young couple after the guy undergoes circumcision. Aditi Vasudev and Naveen Kasturia of Sulemani Keeda fame play the lead pair.

Says debutant director Hardik, “We have touched upon a topic that is still considered a taboo in our society.
Vikramaditya has given the story a quirky twist.”