Kani Kusruti: Locarno Calling

Kani Kusruti has gone from strength to strength after the twin successes of Girls Will Be Girls and All We Imagine as Light. Most recently, she was on the jury of the highly-rated 78th Locarno Film Festival in the Concorso Cineasti del Presente section, with film curator La Frances Hui and actor Asmara Abigail. Kusruti cut a fine figure in her dresses and jumpsuits at the event.

Miss Bollywood

Another Miss Universe follows in the footsteps of her famous predecessors, Sushmita Sen and Lara Dutta. Harnaaz Sandhu, who won the title in 2021, is making her Bollywood debut with Tiger Shroff in ‘Baaghi 4’. Given the blood and gore the film looks full of, one hopes she gets to have a part that counts.

 Epic Love

Kamal Amrohi and Meena Kumari were director and muse, man and wife, and also warring partners. They married, separated, married again, all while making the memorable Pakeezah (1972), which was released a few weeks before Kumari died. Siddharth P Malhotra, whose Maharaj (2024) ran into trouble before being aired on Netflix, has been working on a biopic based on Amrohi and Kumari’s love story. It is scheduled to release in 2026. Malhotra plans to portray them as a couple with flaws, and has got the family’s clearance for it. Malhotra himself comes from a storied Bollywood family. The legendary actors Prem Nath and Bina Rai are his grandparents.

BollywoodcinemaHarnaaz SandhuKamal AmrohiKani KusrutiMeena Kumari