Intentar ORO - Gratis

'I'm not an accessory to a hero's journey'

The Morning Standard

|

September 04, 2025

...says actor Huma Qureshi, who along with writer-director Bikas Mishra and producer Shiladitya Bora, talk about their upcoming film Bayaan, all set to premiere at TIFF

- NAMRATA JOSHI

It's exciting times for the team of Bayaan (Testimony) as the film heads for the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), where it is set to have its world premiere in the Discovery section on September 5. The second feature film of writer-director Bikas Ranjan Mishra after Chauranga (2014), Bayaan is produced by Shiladitya Bora of Platoon One Films. A procedural thriller, it has Huma Qureshi playing the lead role of a cop investigating sexual abuse charges against a cult leader in Rajasthan.

Structured around her quest to land a vital witness to pin him down, in the face of unquestioning devotion and firm silence of the closed cult and complicity, corruption, and powerplay within the system and gender discrimination at large, it was supported by the International Film Festival of Rotterdam's Huber Bals Fund. It was also selected at the Asian Project Market, Busan, and is set to play at the forthcoming Busan International Film Festival, shortly after TIFF.

In between their busyness with prepping for their first film outing at TIFF, we caught up with Qureshi, Mishra, and Bora for a conversation. Excerpts:

I will begin with Bikas. What took you so long to make your second feature film, after Chauranga back in 2014?

MÁS HISTORIAS DE The Morning Standard

The Morning Standard

The Morning Standard

Cong calls meeting on SIR after electoral rout in Bihar

WEEKS after the Election Commission launched the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in 12 states and UTs, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Kerala, and Puducherry, the Congress has called a review meeting of party functionaries from all regions where the revision process is underway.

time to read

1 min

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

The Morning Standard

Colour and song return to climate talks in Brazil

THE gypsies invariably brought colour and magic to the grey city of Macondo in One Hundred Years of Solitude. Belém is no Macondo living in isolation and innocence, neither are the indigenous people and climate activists who joined the “Great People's March”on Saturday at halfway point of the UN climate summit the wandering Roma.

time to read

3 mins

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

The Morning Standard

Car 'owner' in Red Fort blast case arrested

THE National Investigating Agency (NIA) claimed a major breakthrough on Sunday in the ongoing probe into the Red Fort bomb blast case by arresting Amir Rashid Ali, an associate of the alleged suicide bomber Dr Umar un Nabi. Crucial details have emerged from Jammu and Kashmir about the role played by Ali, his brother Umar Rashid, and one Tariq Ahmed.

time to read

1 mins

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

TRYST WITH TERROR ACROSS FOUR DECADES

\"THE blast at Chandni Chowk last week tore through the heart of old Delhi, however, for many of us who have lived in Delhi long enough, it wasn't just another news headline. It was déja vu. A cold gust from the past. That evening, I was driving home, taking the Mahatma Gandhi Marg (Ring Road), parallel to Subhash Road, when my phone began to ring incessantly.

time to read

3 mins

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

The Morning Standard

HOLDING THE BORDERS TIGHT

While the capital is still recovering from the horrors of the Red Fort terror attack that claimed 13 lives, repeated assurances of tightened vigilance fail to hold ground in reality at all the border entry points raising security concerns, says city team after a detailed survey through the night

time to read

7 mins

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

Bangladesh tightens security ahead of Sheikh Hasina verdict

SECURITY is beefed up across Bangladesh with police in the national capital ordered to shoot violent protesters ahead of a t, special tribunal's verdict against deposed prime minister Sheikh t, Hasina over alleged crimes against humanity even as prosecution on Sunday reiterated the death penalty for her.

time to read

1 min

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

Three more daughters move out of Lalu's family

THE turbulence within the Rashtriya Janata Dal’s (RJD) first family deepened on Sunday, a day after Lalu Prasad’s daughter Rohini Acharya announced her decision to quit politics and sever ties with her family.

time to read

1 min

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

FOR GAMBHIR AND CO, IT'S PITCH DARK AT HOME

EVEN before the presentation ceremony was over, the ground staff at the Eden Gardens, as if to carry out a meta joke, watered the square.

time to read

1 mins

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

China flies 'bomber patrol to counter trilateral drills

THE Chinese military for the first time conducted a \"bomber formation patrol\" with its fighter jets over the disputed South China Sea on Sunday as a 'warning' to the Philippines after its navy conducted joint patrols with the US and Japan.

time to read

1 min

November 17, 2025

The Morning Standard

RSS leader’s son shot dead in Punjab, BJP targets CM

A 32-year-old shopkeeper—son of local Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Baldev Raj Arora and grandson of social worker Dina Nath—was allegedly shot dead in Punjab’s Ferozepur by two unidentified bike-borne assailants on Saturday. The victim, identified as Naveen Arora, was also an RSS volunteer.

time to read

1 min

November 17, 2025

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size