It began in 2024 and has continued well into 2026 — Kriti Sanon’s successful run at the movies shows no signs of slowing down. It started with Teri Baaton Mein Aisa Uljha Jiya, followed by the heist comedy Crew and a darker turn in Do Patti. 2025 brought the intense love story Tere Ishk Mein, and now, the breezy Cocktail 2.

When we point out that she seems content staying out of the rat race and away from social media rivalries, she says she is “actually very competitive”. She says, “When I see someone doing well, I feel like I also want to do well. Competition motivates me to do better. I feel like it also comes at a certain point in your career that you have a sense of security with yourself.” Things changed for the better, especially in 2021, she adds: “The validation that Mimi (2021) gave me, whether from the audience or through the National Award, made me feel like I had finally proved my talent and could now explore more... I am very critical of myself. So, I am always wanting to do better than what I have done before. It’s boring to be in a race with someone else and it just doesn’t give you peace.”

It’s a mix of both. I think any actor craves for that moment and day. Fortunately, this is a role that is very glamorous but also has its layers. I got lucky.

I knew that there would be comparisons, and thankfully, this was not a sequel but a franchise. It’s just the vibe of Cocktail (2012) that was being taken forward in Cocktail 2… and the fact that it was one boy and two girls. Apart from that, there was absolutely no similarity; the story and the conflicts are completely different. I feel like Ally, my character, was not Veronica (Deepika Padukone’s character in Cocktail), and that’s what excited me. If I were doing a remake, then I think the pressure would have been way more.

At the end of it, we all want to be loved, so I feel that’s a similarity. But I also feel even though she is really bindaas and free-spirited, in her heart, she really cares. The empathy part of it was interesting for me, and I connected with it.

There have been so many coming from everywhere. Whether it’s Sajid (Nadiadwala, producer) sir or Sabbir (Khan, director) sir, who have seen me in my debut film Heropanti (2014), and now after this journey of about 12 years, playing a role like this; both sent me long, lovely messages. That was very emotional because when I did Heropanti, I was a baby who knew nothing and just learned everything on the job. The only thing that hasn’t changed is that I used to ask a lot of questions back then. And I am curious even now.

That also happens where sometimes it’s like, ‘Oh now I don’t want to spoil it, it’s a good run going on,’ But when you try different things like when I did Mimi (2021), a lot of people told me ‘Why do you want to play a mother right now’ or ‘Surrogacy is such a serious topic’ or ‘It’s too soon to take something on your shoulders’. The fact that I didn’t listen to it and went with my gut feeling gave me what it did (her first National film award).. So, that made me feel that okay, ‘I need to feel it from inside’. I need to really feel hungry towards doing a certain film. I need to feel challenged by the character and not repeat myself. When Tere Ishq Mein (2025) happened, it was such an intense film; it was emotionally and physically draining. As an actor, by the end of that film, I couldn’t do another intense project immediately. Fortunately, I had Cocktail 2 that came to me, and I was like, ‘This is a breath of fresh air and I would love to do this next.’

Yes. Aapko agar ek hi tarah ka khaana baar-baar denge toh aap bhi bore ho jaoge na? So, as an audience also, you want different kinds of cuisines and different genres of films. I think what we started thinking is ‘Oh, action is working. So, let’s make action films.’ But at the end of it, people want something that is engaging and different for them to not wait for the film to stream on OTT. People should have FOMO, ‘we have to go to a theatre and see it’. That experience needs to happen. Earlier, when OTT was not there, it took six months for a film to come on TV. So, there was a little more urgency to watch it. Now, mediocrity is not going to work.

I am excited to find a script. Genuinely, I have not signed anything, and I am not in a hurry. Right now, quality over quantity for me, for sure.

Spider-Man: Brand New Day is coming. I’m excited about that. Dune: Part Three, too. Then there’s Eetha. Laxman Utekar sir is directing, the teaser is fab. It’s Laxman sir in his full element and avatar with Shraddha (Kapoor, actor). It looks very powerful.

That will happen when it happens. I am not in a hurry. I think everything has its own time.

Actor Vikram Gokhale, who died on November 26 in Pune, was last seen on screen in Nikamma, directed by Sabbir Khan and starred Shilpa Shetty Kundra and Abhimanyu Dassani. Khan reveals that the veteran’s last project, titled Adbhut, also directed by him is yet to be released.

Revealing that Gokhale will be seen in his next film, which he finished shooting recently, the director tells us, “Our relationship was recent but very strong. I first met him (Gokhale) in 2019, while working on Nikamma. He was 74 then, and despite being a veteran actor, he wanted to give his best. After finishing the shoot, he asked me if I was happy with his work, if I would work with him again.” Khan says it was an awkward moment as he was taken aback by how grounded Gokhale was.

The 46-year-old says that when he approached Gokhale for Adbhut, the actor was unwell. “He wasn’t accepting any offers, but after I narrated the role to him, he agreed to do it,” shares the director, adding that he had initially planned to shoot the actor’s scenes in Manali, but on his request, had agreed to do it in Mumbai. However, when the schedule in Manali began, Gokhale reached out to Khan and said it would be wrong of him to not be there.

“He came with us to Manali and shot. He was so full of life. He would just sit around even after his shot and say, ‘I will have my tea. If you need me, I am here’. They don’t make actors like him anymore,” Khan signs off.

Sabbir Khan and Sajid Nadiadwala

Tiger Shroff has been a permanent fixture in Sabbir Khan’s last three films — Heropanti (2014), Baaghi (2016) and Munna Michael (2017). But the director’s latest release, Nikamma, sees him collaborating with Shilpa Shetty Kundra, Abhimanyu Dassani and Shirley Setia. While Shetty was seen in OTT offering Hungama 2 last year, the director is thrilled that his action comedy sees her grace the big screen after 14 years.

“Nikamma is the first film Shilpa signed [after her break from movies]. She got Hungama 2 later. Hers is a tricky part, but I always wanted to cast her. When she said that she is not doing films, I insisted she hear the narration. When she heard the script, she loved it,” he recounts.

Considering he was the mind behind Heropanti and Baaghi, it was surprising that he didn’t direct the sequels. “I lean towards organic franchises wherein while you’re writing the script, it has the scope to take the characters and story forward. It is strange to see different stories, having different characters, [being told] with the same film title,” Khan argues.

Is that the reason he didn’t helm the subsequent editions of the actioners? Or has there been a falling-out with Shroff and producer Sajid Nadiadwala, as rumours suggest? “There is no fallout. Tiger and I talk almost every week. He shared an encouraging post about the Nikamma song. Sajid bhai is my mentor. If things work out, we will collaborate again. They are just a call away.”

Khan adds that Shroff and he are “working on something”, but refuses to divulge details as it’s in the early stages.

In the first week of October, Nawazuddin Siddiqui headed to Shimla to kick off work on the horror outing, Adbhut. While the week-long schedule went by smoothly, the team — led by director Sabbir Khan — faced a hiccup in its next leg in Manali. The filmmaker, who has planned a month-long schedule in the resort town of Himachal Pradesh, had to call off the shoot on Monday due to unexpected rains in the area.  

The cast of the Sony Pictures production, including Diana Penty, Shreya Dhanwanthary and Rohan Mehra, were to can outdoor sequences on Monday. “But incessant rains lashed the town from early morning. We waited for a few hours, hoping that the downpour would subside, but Sabbir had to eventually cancel the shoot for the day,” says a unit hand. After the meteorological department predicted heavy rains for the next 48 hours in the state, Khan promptly informed the crew that filming will be halted for the next two days.

When mid-day reached out to the director, he confirmed the development, stating, “It was a completely unexpected change in weather. Shooting in the rains with a crew of this size is risky. Rains in hilly areas are known to cause landslides, and I didn’t want to put my team in any sort of danger.”

Khan is not worried about the slight delay caused by the weather. “We will make up for the lost time in the days to come,” he says assuredly, before adding that the unit is utilising the time to put their feet up.

Having recently finished shooting for his Netflix film Meenakshi Sundareshwar, Abhimanyu Dassani is back on the set for Sabbir Khan’s Nikamma. Originally planned as a 2020 release, the film got pushed as the pandemic played spoilsport with the schedule. After wrapping up the November schedule of the Shilpa Shetty-starrer, Dassani changed his look for the OTT film, only to bulk up again to shoot a song for Nikamma.

Giving the lowdown on Dassani’s hardcore training, a source says, “For the past three weeks, Abhimanyu has been following an intense regime, including martial arts, heavyweight training and gymnastics for three hours a day. The 10 to 12 kilos he lost for another film has to be gained back to be in sync with his look in Nikamma. The shoot will be underway by March-end along with Shilpa and Shirley [Setia] at a city studio.”

Enjoying the extreme prep, Dassani says, “While I enjoy this process as an actor, I do this with the help of experts. Transformations are never easy, but over the years I have understood what it takes to achieve this. The only bad workout is the one you didn’t do.”

The failure of his directorial debut may have been a setback of sorts, but the experience taught Sabbir Khan a few valuable lessons about the industry and its ruthlessness. It also made him a man who knows his mind. On the eve of the release of his next, Munna Michael, Sabbir talks to BT about how a film's box-office fate doesn't affect him, how he only pays heed to constructive criticism and why he'd never make a 'pseudo-intellectual' film. Excerpts...

All your previous films were for the same banner. Munna Michael is your first project outside it and many perceive it as your litmus test. Agree?
Would you look at a painting and call it the artist's litmus test? No one has a 100 per cent record, but everyone's intention is the same - to make an interesting film. I know that the industry is a ruthless place and only success is worshipped, but these things have never affected me. I'm not nervous or anxious about the outcome of Munna Michael. A story excited me and I set out to make it, that's all. The only time I am under pressure is when I am choosing a story. I am particular about it being interesting and universal.

Commercial cinema thrives on the universality of content. But don't you think it's a tad difficult to pinpoint what is universal and what isn't?
My math is simple: Can everyone watch what I'm making as a filmmaker or is it targeted at a select subset? At its core, Munna Michael is about fulfilling your dreams. Almost everyone can relate to that. We're all caught up with something while we have some other dreams. I grew up watching films in theatres that housed a thousand people, and everyone would react the same way - for me, that is the universality of content; it has become the basis of my filmmaking. I can't narrate stories in a dry or dull manner. I can't make biopics or pseudo-intellectual fare just to be taken seriously as a director.

Do you agree that the days of typical Bollywood commercial films are numbered?
Nothing in life disappears. Fashion, films, food...Everything is reinvented and presented with a relevant perspective. This is the golden age of Indian cinema, where compelling stories narrated beautifully have taken precedence over everything, including the star system that was the norm in the 80s and 90s. Having said that, Hindi cinema has its unique identity and that shouldn't be lost while we're trying to be different. While we're aiming to be unique, we shouldn't ape a Korean, Hollywood or a French film and add a Hindi subtext. We must find ways to keep our identity as an industry intact while narrating stories in diverse ways with a fresh set of actors. No one has a formula for surefire success. Creativity and sincerity are the only way forward.

Masala films are often accused of giving their heroines a raw deal while focusing entirely on the hero...
(Cuts in) Yes, uneducated, non-liberated film writers and directors should be blamed for that. Also, this question would have been more relevant a few years ago when that was prevalent. As a director, I have always kept my stories real and characters balanced. Munna Michael belongs to Tiger, but it's also Nidhhi's film. I don't accept or encourage stories where the girl is nothing more than a cardboard. Shraddha Kapoor, Kriti Sanon and even Nidhhi will vouch for that.

Munna Michael and Baaghi ran into legal issues despite all your sincerity and effort. Does that demoralize you as a filmmaker?
It doesn't; I believe in our judiciary and the systems that the industry has set up. There were cases when we announced Munna Michael, but I was never scared. My team and I work on the screenplay for months to bring something novel to the audience. So, the best way out is to submit the script before the court and the result will be for everyone to see. But yes, these episodes irk me. There are a few who are interested in making films and there are some who do this for free publicity.

How much does criticism impact your work?
Constructive criticism helps. For example, after my first film, a critic had pointed out that the use of the word 'bitch' was not right. My screenplay writer and dialogue writer were girls who had no problem with the word, but I understood what the critic meant. I consciously became more careful since then. What upsets me is the lack of research and stereotyping mainstream directors. To quote another example, a critic accused me of plagiarism after my last outing. When the studio pointed out that film is an official adaptation, a fact that was never hidden from the press, the said critic took to social media to say that she 'was just informed by the studio that the film is an official adaptation'. No apology was tendered to me. Even the review was not retracted.

After a star-studded first film (Kambakkht Ishq), was it a conscious decision to choose newcomers for your later projects?
I was secretly praying to make Heropanti with new faces because I knew that if stars came on board, they might not place their trust in me. I also thought that making the film with newbies would bring larger glory to everyone involved. Today, I prefer to work with a mix of established actors and new faces, the way I have done with Munna Michael. Despite being a star, Nawazuddin Siddiqui doesn't behave like one. I've realised that I can't work with people who have baggage. Besides, I know how tough it is to get a break in any stream in Bollywood; I've slogged for years as an assistant. I'm a middle-class guy whose father was in this industry. I know how the cookie crumbles.

Why did you opt out of Baaghi 2?
After Baaghi, I was approached to do the sequel and the contract was sent home, but there was no concept or a script. It takes almost a year to structure a screenplay. By then, Tiger and I had plunged into Munna Michael. It would be unfair on my part to think that they would wait for me, but my best wishes are with the team.

Ahmed Khan, who is directing Baaghi 2, has worked with you as a choreographer. Any exchanges with him?
Nope. Honestly, I didn't expect it also. He was on my set one day and I treated him well. I realise the value of a break, especially when you are making a comeback.