Vaani Kapoor has had a successful 2025 till date with her hit theatrical Raid 2. Now, she is set to embark on a new journey as she is making her OTT debut with Mandala Murders. While the actor is nervous about this new stint, she is equally excited about delving in the long format, as she believes it gives her, as an actor, a chance to go deeper into her portrayal.
Talking about this new stint, Vaani Kapoor says, “In films, you have only two to three hours where you have to create the arc, establish it and layer out everything in that concise period of time. I was very intrigued coming into the long format, as it helps you explore as an actor. You get much more leverage to create more nuances, layers and get into the depth of everything.”
The actor plays a detective on screen, and women officers are often associated with a tough exterior. Ask her about how the portrayal of such women in films over time has impacted her, and Vaani says she got her inspiration from films like Mardaani (2013). “All this while, we have seen women in the thriller genre being very strong, well put together, they are assertive and have a certain demenaour. I love that and I have seen that in films like Mardaani over the years in our industry. But I tried to make my character more real and relatable. I wanted to show not just strength but also raw vulnerability as she is fighting her own demons, while trying to be the best in what she is doing. She is a fighter from within, like how women usually are as they have so much strength,” she says.
Vaani on the ban on Abir Gulaal
Vaani also faced a setback earlier this year as her film Abir Gulaal, which would have marked the Bollywood comeback of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, was banned in India following the Pahalgam terror attack in April. Opening up on the ban on the film for the first time, the actor tells us, “I don’t think anybody’s intention was to hurt anyone’s sentiment. The film was made to spread love, unfortunately, all it got was hate. But it was shot at a very different time. It’s unfortunate about the whole attack that happened, but the film was shot way earlier, when there were no issues. The producers took all the permissions that had to be taken. But after the attacks, all of us, the team and I, we all respected and understood the sentiment of the nation. We always have abided by the laws, it’s nothing that one has become rogue and gone against what our laws expect us to do. One has put the sentiment of the nation first.”
{{/usCountry}}Vaani also faced a setback earlier this year as her film Abir Gulaal, which would have marked the Bollywood comeback of Pakistani actor Fawad Khan, was banned in India following the Pahalgam terror attack in April. Opening up on the ban on the film for the first time, the actor tells us, “I don’t think anybody’s intention was to hurt anyone’s sentiment. The film was made to spread love, unfortunately, all it got was hate. But it was shot at a very different time. It’s unfortunate about the whole attack that happened, but the film was shot way earlier, when there were no issues. The producers took all the permissions that had to be taken. But after the attacks, all of us, the team and I, we all respected and understood the sentiment of the nation. We always have abided by the laws, it’s nothing that one has become rogue and gone against what our laws expect us to do. One has put the sentiment of the nation first.”
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