Outsider by Choice

Main Actor Nahi Hoon (I Am Not an Actor)," says Siddiqui with Nawazuddin absolute seriousness.

- PUJA TALWAR

Coming from a man who has just been awarded Best Actor for the very film in which he utters this line, the irony is difficult to miss and perhaps, intentionally placed. It is not merely a line but the central theme of Aditya Kripalani's new film, which interrogates the boundaries between performance and reality, acting and being. Siddiqui plays a retired banker who engages in a series of video call-based sessions with a struggling actor played by Chitrangada Satarupa. The conversations unfold at an unconventional acting workshop, where roles blur and truth unravels.