Pan Nalin is ecstatic at Chhello Show (2021), his evocative coming-of-age drama’s successful shot at the Oscars shortlist for 2023. It’s a validation of sorts for the filmmaker, whose film was mired in controversies until recently, with questions over its originality.

“We rejoiced when India announced The Last Film Show (title for Anglophone audiences) as its entry to the 95th Oscars. Voting members of the Academy have given their validation by officially shortlisting it in the Best International Films category; it is indeed a massive milestone in the history of Indian cinema. We have broken a two-decade-long jinx!” he beams.

While the film continues to make noise internationally, it gained Indian audiences’ attention only after it was chosen as India’s submission at the awards in September. Is that a reminder that we wait for international validation before recognizing a person or project’s potential?

“Sadly, yes. India can be very hard on movies that are without any stars, studios or streamers. The exhibition sector always underestimates Indian audiences, and the year 2022 has been a big proof of that. I have always believed that the audience is smarter than the filmmaker. If they are given the opportunity to watch films like Chhello Show, they will embrace it. But the film must come to a cinema near them,” he asserts.

The director feels that what has connected with people is that it was “pure entertainment” married with “top-notch production quality”. It is, Nalin says, “a film that not only inspires, but also celebrates the power of dreams. It’s a film about hope. It’s a film about light — as the world goes through many patches of darkness. And as our child-star Bhavin Rabari says, people around the world love our film because while watching, they first laugh, then they cry, and when the movie gets over, they feel hungry!”

Anirban Das (MID-DAY; April 20, 2016)

The Pan Nalin directed Angry Indian Goddesses (2015), which was well received in the film festival circuit, is all set to get a prequel. Soon after the release of the film, Pan was asked about its sequel but he didn’t reveal much. The director has now confirmed that the sequel will be made only after gauging response to the prequel.

Says Nalin, “The scripting process for the prequel is currently on. We felt that the backstory of all the characters needs to be told. We already have some part of it ready, but are fleshing out more details to make the prequel even more interesting.” If everything falls in place, the film will go on floors in September and some A-listers will also be a part of the project.

Adds Nalin, “All the girls from the first film will be a part of it. We are trying to manage their dates and plan to go on floors in September. Plus, there will be a leading star to play one of the boyfriends and a top actress for a cameo in the film. We cannot name anyone as the talks are on.”

DNA (November 22, 2015)

Pan Nalin, director of Angry Indian Goddesses, is working towards organising a special screening for Shah Rukh Khan. He made a short documentary on Shah Rukh Khan long before he made his first feature film Samsara. After movies like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, when Shah Rukh Khan was the No. 1 star in India, Pan Nalin was approached by France’s Canal Plus to make a documentary to commemorate the hundred year of invention of cinema by the Lumière Brothers, where he had proposed a film on Shah Rukh Khan. Pan says, “When my editor Shreyas Beltangdy completed editing the trailer of Angry Indian Goddesses, the very first person I shared it with was Shah Rukh. He watched it, loved it, watched it again and expressed a desire to watch the film! So now we will work towards organising a special show of AIG for Shah Rukh.”

MUMBAI MIRROR (November 20, 2015)

After rave reviews across International Festivals, Angry Indian Goddesses, directed by Pan Nalin and produced by Gaurav Dhingra is ready to release in India on 4th December. The movie, touted as India's first female buddy film with a stellar star cast, puts modern-day Indian women at the heart of the story.

The makers of the film interviewed a couple of thousand women from various walks of life as a part of their research when the script was being put together, to make it as authentic as possible. The research and writing team spent two years uncovering facts and figures about the contemporary Indian woman, her achievements, her problems, her issues and her dreams.

Director Pan Nalin's vision of the film stemmed from his observation of the highly unrealistic portrayal of women in Indian Cinema. He quotes "A huge percentage of Indian Cinema is filmed through the male perspective. Women being so tolerant by nature rarely protest about this. It's only while talking to them did we realize how seriously they want to see a realistic portrayal of women and girl bonding. Since many years, I was longing to do a film with firebrand Indian women in lead roles because shockingly, 96% of women-roles in Indian cinema is only for decoration; being a lover (means being sexy), or playing a mother, or a sister whose "izzat" the hero or the big brother must protect. Or she is the ultimate item girl!! A guy must have a gun and girl - but it will always be a guy's movie. A girl gets glamour and a 'gaana' -but still it's a guy's movie! Be it action, romcom, thriller... only the man must eat screen time, say the great lines, and get the girl in the end. Even the recent lot of all Bollywood buddy movies run high on male testosterone, as if women don't "buddy" each other!!"

The film was test screened across 17 cities in India prior to its worldwide release, and the results were explosive! The test audience which was an equal mix of both female and male, was blown away by the refreshingly true representation of women on celluloid, and were able to instantly connect with the characters.

Angry Indian Goddesses, produced by Jungle Book Entertainment and presented by Nandish Domlur of Protein Entertainment is slated for an all India release on 4th December. The promos of the film promise one roller coaster ride of a film. They have evoked a huge curiosity amongst both women and men alike, to see for the first time on Indian screen what REALLY happens when 7 girls come together!

Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; November 16, 2015)

Nothing sells like sex and the makers of upcoming erotic thriller, Hate Story 3, want to prove that. Keen to get a solo release window on December 4, they have ensured that Milap Zaveri’s Mastizaade and Mozez Singh’s Busan film festival opener Zubaan delay their entry into theatres.

Buzz is that makers of the two films were also looking at December 4 for a theatrical release. As soon as word spread, Hate Story 3 producer Bhushan Kumar apparently requested the two producers to release their films at a later date.

Says a source, “Bhushan asked them to delay the release of their films. He is keen that Hate Story 3 get a clear window. Moreover, he bought all the spots on channels for promotions. Since he also heads a music company, they refused to promote the music of other films.”

Says Mastizaade director Milap Zaveri, “Bhushan sir personally sat through the music sittings of my film with me. So, in a way, it’s almost like his own film. When he requested us to not clash with Hate Story 3, it was the least that we could do. Both films have the potential to hit bull’s eye — they will in 2015 and we, in 2016.”

Mastizaade stars Sunny Leone while Zubaan features Masaan actor Vicky Kaushal. Adds the source, “Having a Sunny Leone-starrer alongside would have led to division of business while Zubaan would attract the niche audience.”

Meanwhile, now Pan Nalin’s Angry Indian Goddesses (AIG), which was slated to hit the marquee on November 27, will now reach theatres on December 4 to avoid a clash with Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone-starrer Tamasha. Says Nalin, “We will be releasing AIG on December 4. We have received fantastic reaction at film festivals. Our film will be released abroad in 2016, but we want the Indian audience to see it first.”

Bhushan remained unavailable for comment.

Filmmaker Pan Nalin reached Paris a day before the 13/11 attack; he had a close shave during 26/11
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 16, 2015)

BOMBAY TIMES (November 16, 2015)

As she straddles two cultures, model-turned-actor Amrit Maghera confesses she is quite beginning to enjoy the best of both worlds
Mitali Parekh (MUMBAI MIRROR; November 8, 2015)

In the last years of the 2000s, you couldn't escape Amrit Maghera's face. She loomed over the city from hoardings, she infiltrated your homes with her many television commercials and shone on the ramp. The face of India's largest cosmetic company (Lakme), her rise was quick, especially for someone who had come to India from the UK as a backup dancer with 30 others.

And then in 2012, she went back home to London. There were rumours of drug addiction, rehab and an affair with a high-ranking official from within the brand. "That's rubbish," says Maghera, who is now 32. "I am completely against drugs. I was getting acting offers and I wanted to work internationally. So I went back to London to study acting." Three years on, she's coming back as Joanna in the soon-to-release Angry Indian Goddesses.

Maghera acquired from her father her Scottish-English lineage and from her mother, her Punjabi blood and a surname. She knew only her Indian agent when she came to the country at the age of 23. "It was a little tough at the beginning. I was quite young and naive. Some people tried to tell me who to be," she says. "I was told that every time I step out of the house, I should have a face full of makeup and that I should wear heels at all times. I had no family here, so things were harder. I remember when I was chosen to be the face of Lakme, a couple of my model friends turned their backs on me. I guess you meet some immature people wherever you go, but I did make some very good model friends too."

She says, the move back home and the shift to a new industry was challenging. "I had to learn to (start from scratch)," she adds. "I had to queue up for auditions and wait for hours. But though I would have to audition, I would still be recognised in India. I had to tell myself that I was grateful, that this was my life and I had to work hard and be humble." The gift of a mixed heritage is that she looks "ambiguous". "I find it so interesting that in India, people like to make use of the fact that I am half-English and from the West, like the character I played in the [2014] movie Mad About Dance," she says. "In England, the people I work with love to use my Asian roots." Maghera, who had been seen in the Punjabi movie Goreya Nu Daffa Karo, is now on British TV as Neeta Kaur on the daily soap Hollyoaks. "My character in Hollyoaks is very ditzy — she's a 25-year-old barmaid and a step-mom to three children who are her own age. She's so much fun to play as she's quite far from how I am in real life."

Maghera was not hoping to come back to India, but she now feels grateful that she has a career which spans two countries. "I feel very lucky that I'm in a position to be able to go back and forth for shoots and for promotions. Scriptwise and project-wise, I want to do anything that excites me," she says. "Like playing Joanna. She's Frieda's cousin (Sarah-Jane Dias's character in Angry Indian Goddesses), and like me, she is half-English. I am so glad that [casting agent] Dilip Shankar and [director] Pan Nalin cast me. I loved working in a mainstream movie with all these women and no lead male actor."

Maghera's Joanna is someone who seems only occupied with living. "She soaks up every small thing, such as butterflies, the small things in life which anyone else would take for granted," she says. "There was a detailed character sketch for each person and part of this was that Joanna lost her father when she was young. So Nalin and Dilip gave me this diary and I had to write letters to my father at age 5, 12 and so on, as well as many other exercises, to become Joanna. Sarah-Jane and I would hang out for hours and even fall asleep in the same bed because we were shooting in this spooky village in Goa."

Maghera is also a trained dancer and says that she gets offers to choreograph for movies. "It's a part of me, but I think I will tap into that when, say, I am 60. I would rather focus on one thing now and perhaps do movies that bring in all my strengths. I'd like to do an action movie, which would use my dance talents. I'd really like to work with Anurag Kashyap. I've known him for a few years now. He's a cool guy, and I'd also like to work with Vikas Bahl," she says.

Pan Nalin's film, 'Angry Indian Goddesses', was the toast of TIFF
Roshmila Bhattacharya (MUMBAI MIRROR; September 25, 2015)


Pan Nalin, whose first Hindi film, Angry Indian Goddesses bagged the first runner-up prize for the Grolsch People's Choice Award at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), couldn't be happier. Even though they lost to Room by a really narrow margin, the director of internationally acclaimed films like Samsara and Valley of Flowers admits that it was a big high to make an impact in a jungle of 300 movies featuring big Hollywood names like Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Sandra Bullock and George Clooney on the red carpet, with a small-budget, India-rooted subject. It's a first for an Indian film in a category which has been dominated by American and British film wins.

"We went to Toronto with no expectations, just happy to be selected as a special presentation. We'd planned for five to six interviews, we ended up giving 120 to mainstream media. On the streets, people were calling out to the 'angry young goddesses', and that included my co-writer, casting director and associate Dilip Shankar and me," laughs Nalin, who went on to explain the concept of ardhangini (half man half woman) to his North American counterparts. "The most overwhelming reaction came from an American guy who walked out of a screening, asked me if he could give me a hug, quipped that he wished he could have left his d*** in the theatre and just walked away. I was so deeply touched."

The director recalls how he was the only guy in a class of nine girls at National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad. Over the years, he's heard actresses ruing the fact that few made films that revolved around women. So then Dilip and he, with like-minded actresses like Tannishtha Chatterjee and Kalki Koechlin, decided to make one. And while brainstorming zeroed in on a female buddy film since that was a subject not explored on screen before despite there having been great films on bromance like Dil Chahta Hai, Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, 3 Idiots and Delhi Belly to name a few.

The film was a revelation from the auditions itself when Nalin discovered that while actors were all about bodies and dialogue delivery, actresses had so much more to offer. "We auditioned 800 girls, 200 by Dilip and me personally. And we discovered that most of them could sing, dance, speak five languages fluently, swim and even ride. Rajshri Deshpande, one of the seven goddesses, has learnt Kathakali in Kerala and done three months of mountaineering in the Himalayas. Indian women are full of shakti and talent," he raves.

The film was shot in Goa because research threw up the fact that it is one of the safest destinations in India where women in groups can be left alone to party. And it's a bachelorette party that these goddesses meet for at Sarah-Jane Dias's Portuguese-styled family home. She's quit the world of advertising to return to her roots and pursue photography. She invites her friends over, among them a CEO from Bangalore, a struggling singer from Mumbai and a trophy wife from Delhi, to open a Pandora's box of surprises.

"The research also threw up that while Indian women are sexually harassed and oppressed, our country also had the longest-ruling woman Prime Minister in Indira Gandhi, several MPs and MLAs in Parliament, the maximum number of CEOs, the highest number of female activists, the first all-woman commercial flight and the first paramilitary women's force. "But despite this, I realised 10 minutes into a conversation with any woman, whether she was in Mumbai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Delhi or Ahmedabad, that they are all angry about something. And I also realised that goddesses take on a ferocious avatar to create change, a new world order, so the title," smiles Nalin.

Encouraged by the appreciation at TIFF and the curious interest it has sparked back home, he is planning a pan-India release in November soon after the festivals of the goddesses. "This is the first time I'm making a film in Hindi and I want it playing in every neighbourhood theatre here. I want to prove to distributors and exhibitors that you don't need big stars to pull an audience, goddesses are enough. The film has already been acquired by all the Middle-Eastern countries and that's a high. I want women there to see our goddesses at play," he asserts.

Nalin's next film in English, the first Indo-New Zealand co-production, Beyond the Known World, is in post-production currently, and he is ready to kickstart his second Hindi film after this one releases. Quiz him on what it's about and he quips, tongue-in-cheek, "It's about insane Indian Gods and might just feature dozens of men."

What does it take to create Indian content for the world? Filmmaker pair Pan Nalin and Gaurav Dhingra spill the secret
Ananya Ghosh (MID-DAY; September 6, 2015)

Pan Nalin — the versatile brain behind Wagale Ki Duniya — meets us at the Versova office he shares with co-founder of Jungle Book Entertainment, Gaurav Dhingra. Their first venture, was the 2013 documentary Faith Connections inspired by the Maha Kumbh Mela held in allahabad. In 2014, they joined hands with Canadian producer Fred Fuchs for the television series, Greeks, which follows the 326 BC Indian invasion of Alexander. Still under development, the budget for season one is around $ 30-40 million. For now, however, nalin and Dhingra are excited about a project closer home — their first full- length Bollywood film, Angry Indian Goddesses, which will premiere at TIFF in 12 days. Excerpts from an interview:

How did your paths cross?
Dhingra: Having worked in the production department for Rang De Basanti and as line producer for Delhi 6, I met Pan in 2006 on the sets of The Valley of Flowers, where I was production manager. After the film, we went our separate ways only to reconnect again. That is when we realised that we have similar visions when it comes to filmmaking.

What’s keeping you busy?
Dhingra: We are working on Beyond the Known World, a film co-produced by the New Zealand High Commission; an English TV series with Fuchs based on Alexander the Great’s India invasion. And, among other things, we have developed content for Saadat Hasan Manto’s Toba Tek Singh and an Indo-Chinese martial arts film.

Why choose television?
Nalin: The production quality of television in the UK and US is far better than even Hollywood films. Many mainstream scriptwriters are writing for television as it gives them more scope. Also, people are looking towards the East for stories and there are hardly any tales from India in the market. We pitched a few ideas and Greeks got selected. It is a fictional account based on real incidents. We have done a lot of research to make sure that the content is not just good, but great.

Speaking of content, was it tricky filming Faith Connections, considering the Kumbh Mela is well documented?
Nalin: (laughs) The Kumbh is not just about a mass gathering, the holy dip, and the abundant photo-ops. It is about real stories of real people — all bound by faith… religious or otherwise. From a mother who has lost her child in true ’80s Bollywood style, to a pantshirt baba, to a 10-year-old who either wants to become a sadhu or join the mafia, the characters we found intrigued us to no end. Eventually, I had to call in more crew and equipment. We just wanted to tell the stories of a few people we found interesting.

How did you manage to hold on to your camera?
Nalin: There were police and security guards at every inch. But, they had areas earmarked for the media and that caused us some problem, as we wanted to shoot certain people and not politicians taking holy dips. In order to roam around freely with our equipment, we had to convince authorities of our purpose and get relevant permissions. We had eight people in three separate teams following the characters we thought would have a story, and we’d often lose them in the crowd.
Gaurav: Even the basic amenities, which for us included battery chargers for our cameras, were hard to find. We had to keep local ‘runners’ who would run back and forth from where we were shooting to a place where we had kept a generator to get the batteries charged.

What prompted Angry Indian Goddesses?
Dhingra: Women-centric stories are seldom told in the right manner. Even today, a film is called Mardaani… as in ‘like a man’. In Gulaab Gang, women kick and fight like men. Why can’t women be women and still have their own film? We wanted to make a film where they are in their own space. Our girls are no Jhansi Ki Ranis, just girls… albeit a bit angry.
Nalin: While auditioning, we realised that women can be b** chy about one another, and yet stick together like glue. Their ‘buddyness’ is different from the let’s-forget-the-world-and-have-beer friendship that guys share.