Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s ‘I’m Not an Actor,’ Shot Live Between Mumbai and Frankfurt, to World Premiere at Cinequest (EXCLUSIVE)

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The upcoming film “I’m Not an Actor,” produced by Mumba Devi Motion Pictures, featuring Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Chitrangada Satarupa in the leading roles, is set to make its debut at the 2025 Cinequest Film Festival in California this coming March.

Aditya Kripalani’s drama, filmed in Hindi and English, portrays the story of an actor in Mumbai struggling with frustration yet adhering to traditional values, who spends a day guiding a disheartened ex-banker from Frankfurt on acting techniques via video calls. The movie was distinctively produced by filming scenes simultaneously in India and Germany over a span of 28 days. Despite unfavorable weather conditions and a significant time difference of 4.5 hours between the locations, both lead actors delivered their performances live through video conferencing.

Kripalani opted for an unusual method to portray genuine video chat exchanges among characters. As he put it, “Our movie features a continuous dialogue that unfolds over the course of a single day, spanning two different countries via video call. In real life, when a conversation gets intense on a video call, we tend to forget about the screen. Our goal was to create the same effect in our film.” To accomplish this, he explained, “We filmed both sides simultaneously, with one team based in Frankfurt and another in Mumbai.

Kripalani explained the movie’s message by saying, ‘We tend to label people for comfort, thinking we’ve grasped them, but this only builds barriers, making it harder to truly connect.’ The film emphasizes that beneath our surface differences, human beings are strikingly similar on a much deeper level.

For Siddiqui, who is not only a producer through his company Side Hero Entertainment, this role presented new ground: “The concept of me portraying a banker learning acting was intriguing from the very beginning. I had never encountered a script like this before,” stated the star of “Sacred Games.” “It appeared to be the ideal script to join, particularly since Aditya has delved deeply into the art of acting within the film.

The highly ambitious project encountered distinct hurdles because it utilized a live, intercontinental filming method. As I battled subzero temperatures in Frankfurt (-2 degrees), on the other side of the world, the cameras in India would often overheat due to intense heat, causing us to halt production for extended periods.

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The ambitious project faced unique challenges due to its live, intercontinental filming approach. In Frankfurt it was freezing (-2 degrees), while in India the cameras frequently overheated due to extreme heat, necessitating pauses in production.

Satarupa found her time working in Mumbai challenging yet rewarding. She expressed that maintaining the authenticity of her character amidst logistical complexities, all while enduring the sweltering Mumbai heat and filming at real locations, sometimes even covertly, was no walk in the park.

After its debut, producer Sweta Chhabria announced intentions to hold premieres in Europe, the UK, and Asia. The goal is a limited cinema screening in India before moving to a streaming service. Ranjan Singh, known for “Kennedy”, takes on the role of associate producer.

The newest film by Mumbai Devi Motion Pictures, titled ‘I’m Not an Actor’, is their latest socially conscious production. This studio previously earned the Netpac Award for ‘Devi Aur Hero’ in 2019 and received the Fipresci Prize for ‘Not Today’ in 2021.

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2025-01-23 06:46