Latest news with #PuneHighway
Indian Express
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Indian Express
Pune Highway explores the many facets of friendship
Running parallel to the story on the fragility of friendship in the suspense drama Pune Highway is the steadfast camaraderie and collaborative ties of its creators. Bugs Bhargava Krishna and Rahul daCunha — the film's co-writers and co-directors — have worked together for nearly four decades on advertisements and theatre projects. Now they have joined hands to adapt Rahul's 2004 play Pune Highway. 'It's a real test of friendship when you work together and still remain friends. We passed,' says Bhargava. Rahul and Bhargava belong to a diminishing tribe of Mumbai-based advertising professionals who devote their evenings to making plays. While Bhargava crossed over to films — he acted in movies such as Taare Zameen Par (2007), Kaminey (2009), Delhi Belly (2011), A Suitable Boy (2020) as well as directed Barot House (2019) and Nail Polish (2021), theatre kept Rahul occupied. Bhargava, who was part of the original cast of the play Pune Highway, always believed 'there was something cinematic' in its narrative, and nudged Rahul to make the movie. Nearly three years ago, they embarked on adapting Pune Highway into a screenplay. It follows the story of Khandu, Vishnu, Nicky, Natasha and Babu, who grew up together in Shantibhavan, a building in Mumbai. Even though an incident on the Pune highway makes Babu a paraplegic, the life of these Shantibhavan residents goes on until one day a body is fished out of a lake, away from the city. As the investigation into the case continues, the friends find themselves grappling with past secrets and new realities. Though the play was written and directed by Rahul, the film, he says, is a product of their joint vision. 'Our main concern was how we would write for the film. What do we keep and what do we let go of? In the end, the characters gained depth and the narrative became visually exciting,' says Rahul. In theatre, the story usually progresses sequentially. The shooting of Pune Highway, however, began with its climax. 'We had only three readings before the shoot. So, it was challenging for the actors to stay with the sequence that was being shot that particular day,' says Rahul, whose agency daCunha Communications helms the Amul Butter topical campaign. It has been a three-year journey to the theatres. 'Once a play is ready, we open it. However, there is a whole journey after a film is ready — promotion planning, releasing its teaser, getting the trailer ready and so on. This is where our experience as ad professionals comes to the fore,' says Rahul, who has written several popular plays, including Class of '84 (2003) and Me, Kash & Cruise (2008). This writer-director duo will soon be shifting their focus to adapting a literary work for the screen. The film will be based on the first story in Old Cypress And Other Stories (1991) by Rahul's mother Nisha daCunha. It explores the complexities of family, identity, and cultural heritage. When Bhargava read it, he was keen to develop the story, titled Old Cypress, a haunting story about finding life and confidence after love ends. 'We are excited to create a visual style that is different from Pune Highway. It is a woman-centric story that looks at what we go through in our 40s and 50s,' says Bhargava. Rahul and Nisha had their doubts about its cinematic adaptation. Bhargava, who stuck to this idea, crafted the screenplay, with Rahul making additions to heighten the drama and conflict. 'Now I am familiar with what is required when a story transitions from stage to screen. The process of book to screen is more complex,' says Rahul.
NDTV
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- NDTV
Jim Sarbh Reacts To The Buzz Of Playing The Younger Version Of The Late Mr Ratan Tata In A Biopic
New Delhi: The buzz around Jim Sarbh being a part of Ratan Tata's biopic has been making the rounds for a while. Zee Studios had made an official announcement, followed by Ratan Tata's passing away, to honour his legacy. While the exact date is not known, several reports ranging from October 2024 to May 2025 wrote about the possibility. Ratan Tata passed away on October 9, 2024. Soon rumours about Jim Sarbh being the perfect fit to play young Ratan Tata surfaced online. The similarities in their looks made fans want to see it happen. The plot of the documentary-style biopic is said to revolve around Tata's incredible leadership for the Tata Group and his commendable philanthropic activities. Now recently in a conversation with Bollywood Bubble, Jim Sarbh reacted to the ongoing rumours and how he too has seen his pictures being compared to the late Ratan Tata. Jim said, "That would be great. Yeah, I saw pictures of him when he was young, there is a vague similarity. Yeah, I'd love to play it. It would be a great role." No official confirmation has come from the production team on work getting started on the project, nor has there been any talks regarding the cast. While one section of people said that Jim Sarbh qualified to be a perfect pick to play the young Ratan Tata, another section believed Boman Irani or Naseeruddin Shah could be cast as Senior Tata. On the work front, Jim Sarbh's film Pune Highway was screened at the 55th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa in November 2024. The film also has Amit Sadh in a key role. The trailer of the film was released on May 2, 2025, and hit the screens on May 16.
Scroll.in
23-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scroll.in
‘Pune Highway' review: A bumpy and uneven murder mystery
Over a decade ago, three friends witnessed a brutal attack on their buddy. In the present, there is a new crime to deal with. A young woman, the daughter of an influential politician, has died. Mona (Ketaki Narayan) is known to Pramod (Amit Sadh), Vishnu (Jim Sarbh) and Nicky (Anuvab Pal), making it vital for them to hunt down her murderer. Pune Highway shares its title and the theme of friendship tested by adversity with Rahul D'Cunha's popular play of the same name. The Hindi film, written and directed by D'Cunha and Bhargava 'Bugs' Krishna, is an old-fashioned murder mystery, in which events in the past haunt the present. Each of the men has a back story complicated by far too much time spent in each other's company. Excessive familiarity has blinded them to each other's foibles and secrets, the screenplay suggests. Inspector Pethe (Sudeep Modak) has his work cut out for him, what with a revolving door of suitable suspects, including Vishnu's ex-wife (Manjiri Phadnis) and Nicholas, who has a tendency to record everything he sees. The events in the 121-minute Pune Highway move at a decent clip until the needlessly overstretched climax. Among the characters, only the one played by Jim Sarbh and Amit Sadh are of interest. Sarbh is especially sharp in portraying Vishnu's personal conflicts. Anuvab Pal's Nicholas is the kind of camera-wielding creep women are warned about, but is instead treated as comic relief. Pune Highway isn't always alive to Nicholas's troubling ways, or the depiction of Mona as a textbook hussy. The film does a competent job of maintaining suspense over the killer's identity and motives, but doesn't create compelling enough characters to make the journey entirely engaging. Play
Time of India
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Jim Sarbh talks about his camaraderie with Amit Sadh! Says they were the parents of their group
Jim Sarbh and Amit Sadh Jim Sarbh teamed up with Amit Sadh for Rahul DaCunha and Bugs Bhargava's Pune Highway . Little did Jim know that the two would get along really well not just as co-stars but also a buddies. He tells us, 'I enjoyed working with Amit. I enjoyed working with the whole cast but Amit and I probably had the most scenes together. We are more the parents of the group. The characters do move between those two phases like really having fun with each other and also having to deal with a more serious thing that they have ever dealt with before. So, there's the bundle of energy part of it but there is also the more complicated serious bits.' In an earlier chat with us Jim spoke about the experience of working with the director duo, saying, 'They had a very clear vision, which made things easy on set. I never felt confused about who to turn to—they were in sync, and both understood the material deeply. I've seen them direct theatre for years, and to me, they're pretty conventional. In terms of process and clarity, they were spot on. There was a very loving, open environment that flowed from them to the entire crew. That kind of supportive energy is rare—and it really brought the best out of all of us.' About the show, he had said, 'At its core, Pune Highway is about friendship . It's about growing up together—imagine kids who live in the same building, become best friends, and continue to share life's journey into adulthood. There's laughter, there's deep connection—dosti aur hasi—but then, suddenly, there's khoon—a murder, distant yet deeply personal, that shakes the very foundation of this group. I play Vishnu, who's a lawyer who ends up defending some of his own friends after suspicion falls on them. So, in essence, it's a buddy murder mystery , with bonds of loyalty and truth colliding.' Check out our list of the latest Hindi , English , Tamil , Telugu , Malayalam , and Kannada movies . Don't miss our picks for the best Hindi movies , best Tamil movies, and best Telugu films .
Time of India
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
Jim Sarbh talks about playing a lawyer in his next! Here's what he says
Jim Sarbh Jim Sarbh is all set to be seen in Pune Highway, which unfolds around a tight-knit group of childhood friends, and their equation is tested by a sudden act of violence. In conversation with us, Jim opens up about the film's heart, its twists, and what it was like working under the direction of theatre veterans Rahul Da Cunha and Bugs Bhargava. 'At its core, Pune Highway is about friendship,' says Jim. 'It's about growing up together—imagine kids who live in the same building, become best friends, and continue to share life's journey into adulthood. There's laughter, there's deep connection—dosti aur hasi—but then, suddenly, there's khoon—a murder, distant yet deeply personal, that shakes the very foundation of this group.' Set against the backdrop of rural Maharashtra, the crime throws the friends into turmoil, not just emotionally but legally. 'I play Vishnu, who's a lawyer who ends up defending some of his own friends after suspicion falls on them,' Jim explains. 'So, in essence, it's a buddy murder mystery , with bonds of loyalty and truth colliding.' On working with co-directors Rahul Da Cunha and Bugs Bhargava, Jim describes the experience saying. 'They had a very clear vision, which made things easy on set. I never felt confused about who to turn to—they were in sync, and both understood the material deeply.' Though some might call the directing duo unconventional, Jim disagrees. 'I've seen them direct theatre for years, and to me, they're pretty conventional. In terms of process and clarity, they were spot on. There was a very loving, open environment that flowed from them to the entire crew. That kind of supportive energy is rare—and it really brought the best out of all of us.'
