{"id":632163,"date":"2026-10-16T07:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632163\/"},"modified":"2026-10-16T07:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-16T07:00:09","slug":"nawazuddin-siddiqui-to-star-as-delhi-street-detective-in-kabootar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/632163\/","title":{"rendered":"Nawazuddin Siddiqui to Star as Delhi Street Detective in ‘Kabootar’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tIndian thespian Nawazuddin Siddiqui<\/a> is attached to lead \u201cKabootar<\/a>,\u201d the debut feature from writer-director Ishan Sharma, produced by Nikhil Chaudhary of MDC Filmworks. <\/p>\n

\n\tThe film is structured as a co-production between MDC Filmworks in India, Haiku Films in France, and Rein Film in Norway, with Rohit Saxena serving as co-producer on the Indian side. Principal photography is scheduled to begin in Delhi in early 2027.<\/p>\n

\n\tSet against the crumbling architecture of Old Delhi, \u201cKabootar\u201d centers on Mehboob, a street detective who secretly reads letters written to a Djinn in search of prospective clients. His path crosses with Naoko, a Japanese tourist carrying the weight of a painful past, and Ruby, a young child searching for his parents.<\/p>\n

\n\tSiddiqui is among the most decorated actors of his generation in Indian cinema. He has appeared in Anurag Kashyap\u2019s \u201cGangs of Wasseypur,\u201d Ritesh Batra\u2019s \u201cThe Lunchbox,\u201d and Nandita Das\u2019s \u201cManto\u201d \u2013 all of which debuted in Cannes \u2013 and starred in Netflix\u2019s hit thriller series \u201cSacred Games.\u201d He received an International Emmy nomination for his lead role in Netflix film \u201cSerious Men.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChaudhary said: \u201cNawaz is an actor of extraordinary range. He can be dangerous in \u2018Gangs of Wasseypur\u2019 and heartbreakingly gentle in \u2018The Lunchbox.\u2019 He\u2019s also one of the few Indian actors with a real international presence. His films have gone to Cannes multiple times, and he has been nominated for an International Emmy. For an India-France-Norway co-production, that matters enormously in taking \u2018Kabootar\u2019 to audiences around the world. Just as important, he knows Delhi intimately. For Ishan and I, this film is a love letter to the city, and we needed an actor who could understand it, feel it and embody it. He does all three.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSharma, who developed the script through the production and storytelling Workshop at the Festival des 3 Continents in Nantes \u2013 formerly known as the Produire au Sud Workshop \u2013 added: \u201cNawaz has been an invisible collaborator to a generation of young writers and directors, myself included. We write with his performances in our minds. From \u2018Anwar Ka Ajab Kissa\u2019 to \u2018The Lunchbox,\u2019 I\u2019ve always admired the intensity and love he brings to a character, and his rare ability to move between hope and despair, light and dark, without losing either. \u2018Kabootar\u2019 asks something of him that audiences haven\u2019t seen before. To have him take that leap with us is a gift. I can\u2019t wait to build this world with him.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe project has been selected for a series of international market showcases, including the Tasveer Film Market in Seattle, Film Bazaar in Goa \u2013 organized by India\u2019s National Film Development Corporation (NFDC) \u2013 and the NFDC lineup at this year\u2019s European Film Market in Berlin. Later this month, Chaudhary will pitch the film in the APN+ Track of the Asian Producers Network in Singapore.<\/p>\n

\n\tCasting director Dilip Shankar, whose credits include \u201cLife of Pi\u201d and \u201cMonsoon Wedding,\u201d said: \u201cNawazuddin will bring Mehboob\u2019s eccentric humor, emotional depth and quiet vulnerability to life with rare authenticity. The character demands mischief, rage, tenderness and grace. With his rooted presence and remarkable nuance, Nawazuddin embodies Mehboob\u2019s essential contradictions. His performance anchors \u2018Kabootar\u2019 in the lived-in, poignant texture of Old Delhi.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tSharma is a graduate of the Satyajit Ray Film & Television Institute. His short films \u201cThe God of Panic Street\u201d (2019) and \u201cA Season of Mangoes\u201d (2022) have played international festivals and collected several awards, including the Cinema Experimenta Award.<\/p>\n

\n\tMDC Filmworks has previously produced five films, among them Sanjoy Nag\u2019s \u201cYours Truly,\u201d which premiered at the Busan International Film Festival, and Rajat Kapoor\u2019s dark comedy \u201cKadakh,\u201d which premiered at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival, where it won best screenplay. Haiku Films, founded by Thomas Jaeger, Antoine Delahousse, and Claire Trinquet, produced \u201cFi\u201d (Grand Prize, San Sebasti\u00e1n 2022) and co-produced \u201cTreasure\u201d (Berlinale 2024). Rein Film, founded by Mathis St\u00e5le Mathisen and Aleksander Olai Korsnes, is known for \u201cMy Fathers\u2019 Daughter\u201d (Toronto 2024).<\/p>\n

\n\tKey crew includes cinematographer Udit Khurana (\u201cBayaan,\u201d \u201cGhaath\u201d), sound designer Sethu Venugopal (\u201cMother,\u201d \u201cNocturnal Burger\u201d), and casting director Shankar.<\/p>\n

\n\t\u201cKabootar\u201d was curated by CineV, Nina Lath Gupta\u2019s platform connecting projects with financiers and investors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indian thespian Nawazuddin Siddiqui is attached to lead \u201cKabootar,\u201d the debut feature from writer-director Ishan Sharma, produced by…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":632164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[156,309966,409,30673,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-632163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-entertainment","tag-kabootar","tag-movies","tag-nawazuddin-siddiqui","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=632163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/632163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/632164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=632163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=632163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=632163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}