Kajol headlines her first short film that highlights women issues; shares screen space with Shruti Haasan
Shaheen Parkar (MID-DAY; January 16, 2020)

It’s a year of many firsts for Kajol — the actor, who is set to make her digital debut with Tribhanga later this year, has also shot for her first short film. Titled Devi, the drama for Large Short Films revolves around nine oppressed women from different strata of society, and has her sharing screen space with Shruti Haasan and Neha Dhupia. If the story celebrates woman power on screen, the scene wasn’t too different off-screen either — barring producers Niranjan Iyengar and Ryan Stephen, and art director Sriram Iyengar, it was an all-woman crew at work.

Kajol, who is known to be choosy about scripts, says the film is relevant in today’s times when discussion around the need for gender equality has gained credence. “I couldn’t have chosen a better subject for my first short film. My character, Jyoti, is vastly different from me, but uncannily, we share a lot of similarities. In today’s times when gender discrimination, abuse and violence is being spoken about vociferously, films like Devi are far more relevant,” says the actor.

Stating that director Priyanka Banerjee drives home a “poignant” message with her debut vehicle, Haasan adds, “We talk about sisterhood and how women need to stand with each other. Devi highlights that aspect with a powerful message.”

Actress plays girl from Ghaziabad whose left and right swipes on app makes for a quirky comedy
Avinash Lohana (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 27, 2019)

Kiara Advani who is presently shooting for the Vikram Batra biopic, Shershaah, with Sidharth Malhotra, has given her nod to a coming-of-age comedy titled Indoo Ki Jawani. Produced by Nikkhil Advani, Niranjan Iyengar and Ryan Stephen, it features Kiara as Indoo Gupta, a feisty girl from Ghaziabad, whose left swipes and right swipes with a dating app results in hilarious chaos. It will be the Bollywood debut of Bengali writer-filmmaker Abir Sengupta and is expected to go on floors in September.

“Some time ago, my daughter Keya came to my office and while looking at the posters of the films we have made so far asked matter-of-factly why all of them had only men and no women. Around the time, I heard this story that Niranjan and Ryan brought to us and fell in love with it. Thankfully, it revolves around a female protagonist,” laughs Nikkhil, saying that they have been looking to collaborate with Kiara for the longest time and were pleased that she instantly gave her nod.

Kiara is all fired up about her first female centric film. “Indoo is edgy, lovable and quirky. The dialect is completely new so I’m going to do a lot of workshops to get it right. I can’t wait to start shooting,” she says, adding that the story is relevant to today’s time and given her character’s background and the setting, the film is really exciting. Prod her for details and she zips up, only reiterating that Nikkhil and she have discussed several projects in the past. “This is such a special script, I think we were meant to do it together,” she smiles.

It was writer-turned-producer Niranjan who first reached out to Kiara. His production partner, Ryan, informs that when Abir narrated the gist of the story to him in a coffee shop, he knew that this film had to be made and they couldn’t think of anyone better than Nikhil, Monisha Advani and Madhu Bhojwani to collaborate with. “They got it in a heartbeat and that’s what’s most important for any film. Indoo Ki Jawani is young and funny, pure heartland, and sends the right message home, making it the perfect debut for us as producers,” exults Ryan.

Ask Kiara if she has ever been on a dating app and she shakes her head, “Nope, but I have friends using these apps and have heard a lot of fun stories of their experiences. But nothing compared to what we have for you,” she laughs.