05 April,2026 07:29 AM IST | Mumbai | Mohar Basu
Nawazuddin Siddiqui in ‘Main Actor Nahin Hoon’. Pics/YouTube, Facebook
It is a privilege for a film to travel the festival circuit, but despite appreciation overseas, most filmmakers struggle to find space for their projects back home. After a year-long international run, filmmaker Aditya Kriplani is gearing up to release his film Main Actor Nahin Hoon in India.
The Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Chitrangada Satarupa-starrer revolves around a struggling actor in Mumbai who connects with a melancholic retired banker in Frankfurt through virtual acting lessons. Speaking to mid-day, Kriplani said, "We have a very able distributor in Platoon One Films, headed by Shiladitya Bora. They've backed smaller films, like Newton [2017] that have gone on to do very well. So we're keeping our fingers crossed."
Aditya Kriplani
In an industry where screens are often dominated by big-ticket spectacles, the question of space looms at large for intimate, dialogue-driven cinema. "That's always a concern," he admits. "But Nawazuddin Siddiqui brings credibility. He has carried many films as a lead in theatres. So we're hopeful." Kriplani also draws confidence from the overwhelming response at the film's premiere at the Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose. "It was a 600-seater theatre, completely full," he recalls. "I'm really excited that the film has come home."
Main Actor Nahin Hoon was shot across two locations simultaneously in 28 days.