Losers, Gamblers, and Great Men

PRATIK GANDHI

For many, Ben Kingsley’s interpretation of Mahatma Gandhi has been a touchstone. If there is any­one who can challenge that it is Pratik Gandhi. The actor is set to stun India with his charming interpretation of the young Mahatma in South Africa. Directed by Hansal Mehta and based on the book by historian Ramachandra Guha, Gandhi Before India, the series explores the politicisation of the young Mahatma.

ISHAAN KHATTER

He is an actor who hasn’t got his due in India, though he has been cast by directors such as Mohsen Makhmalbaf, Mira Nair and Susanne Bier. As he matures, Khat­ter’s ability to transcend periods, accents and classes is serving him well, as is his ability to dance with rhythm and grace. After his winning role as the “kidnap rich” Shooter Dival in Bier’s The Perfect Couple, Khatter will play a prince in The Royals on Netflix with Bhumi Pednekar who is playing the woman who he will hate only to love (ah! how much we’ve missed a rom com especially between a rajkumar and an aamkumari).

VIJAY VARMA

He specialised in playing creeps till Jaane Jaan (2023) and IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack (2024) showed audiences that he could play an enigmatic antihero and a tough pilot. Varma has spent many years in the wilderness and then several years playing diabolical, unhinged men who wrong women, so it is only fair that he is finally getting leading men roles to suit his looks. Expect much from him in Matka King, set in the 1960s, directed by Nagraj Manjule.

ALIA BHATT

She never fails to surprise. Having shown audiences a taste of the action heroine in Heart of Stone (2023) and Jigra (2024), Bhatt returns to the genre as a spy in Shiv Rawail’s Alpha, the first female-led film in the spyverse from YRF with Sharvari alongside. Nothing the actor does is half hearted, so expect to be dazzled by its sleek settings and its contemporary politics.

 SAMANTHA RUTH PRABHU

If there is one authentic muscular action heroine in India, it is Samantha Ruth Prabhu. And she revels in Raj and DK’s universe of smart-talking and fast-moving action women. After playing a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel in The Family Man Season Two, in 2024 she wowed as the stunt woman turned spy in Citadel: Honey Bunny. We are looking forward to seeing her in the fantasy series Rakht Brahmand, produced by Raj and DK and directed by Rahi Anil Barve, who helmed the horror movie Tumbbad (2018).

actorsAlia BhattentertainmentForecast 2025Ishaan KhatterPratik GandhiVijay Varma