Former Mr India winner Jitesh Thakur and former Miss Diva finalist Alankrita Bora’s debut film, Tara & Akash: Love Beyond Realms, was selected for a prestigious market screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) 2024. The film is directed by Srinivas Abrol and produced by Jitesh and Alankrita’s production house, Whispers from Eternity Films, and National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC) – under the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India. Makers are all set to take over the Indian box office as well, and the preparations have begun as they released the much-awaited trailer recently.

Deepti Naval On Facing Ageism In Bollywood

The cast sat down for an exclusive chat with Zoom and shared their experiences of working on the film. Veteran actress Deepti Naval also opened up on dealing with ageism and stereotypes in the industry. She said, “You know, like the last film that I did, Goldfish. Again, women oriented because it’s a mother and daughter, yes, I love this so much. It’s my favourite role, I think, till date, so, after a lot of waiting, that film, that kind of role. Or before that, like Panchmati, like Main Zinda Hoon, Ankahi, so many of those films which were female oriented.”

Further, she added, “And somewhere in the strength of the women, without jhandabaazi, without feminism and that whole flag of feminism but self-assured and definitely, women who were trying to, they knew. Like, there was a phrase, that we are looking for our existence, we are looking for our existence, these were women who knew themselves. They had the inner strength, they didn’t have to, you know, sort of, go all over the place looking for themselves. But they had to take a stance for themselves in a quiet, dignified way.”

You get used to not doing a lot of projects: Deepti

“You get used to not doing a lot of projects, you get used to not doing a lot of projects, like, no, I don’t want to do this, I don’t want to do that. As an actor, you have to keep saying no, because, if you want to choose and do a good film, you have to be deprived financially. And forget about luxury, you survive, you make yourself comfortable and gracefully, as much as you can, because, you have to wait,” the actress shared.

Deepti Naval then concluded by saying, “Today, a lot of people are taking the reins in their own hands, now, look at male stars, everyone has their own production houses and create roles for themselves. Now, people who are in the category where I am, we are, we may not have the infrastructure to go into production or, to go into temperament, or, to do it for themselves.”

The film features an ensemble cast, including legendary actors Amol Palekar and Brijendra Kala.