Stargazer: Kashmira Pardeshi, Preeti Panigrahi and Varun Badola

Kashmira Pardeshi studied design at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Mumbai, and she later turned to acting, making her debut in the Telugu film industry in 2018. Eight years later, she is making her mark in streaming. Pardeshi is the cynosure of all eyes as Bharti, a bride bought from Jharkhand in the Haryana-based boxing drama Glory. Pardeshi’s performance is a standout in this new Netflix series.

New Wave Talent

She was the breakout star of Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will be Girls in 2024, after which she enrolled at the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute of India in Kolkata. Now Preeti Panigrahi is all set to continue with where she left off, signing a series of short films. One of these films is the upcom­ing ‘Chunni’ (directed by Kaashvi Agarwal) which has been selected for the New York Indian Film Festival. Panigrahi is also going to star in the new Prime Video series ‘Anarth’.

True to Character

Varun Badola was a staple of the 2000s TV serials such as Koshish, and Astitva. In 2018, he portrayed writer Dharamveer Bharati in the iconic play Shabd Leela. Streaming has opened new doors for him as a character actor. Now, he plays a sharp NRI busi­nessman intent on wreaking vengeance on his broth­er in the new season of SonyLIV’s Undekhi. Badola feels that the industry is relying on technology to the extent that they have forgotten how to trust their own instincts. True that.