THE POWER OF TWO

Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti have known each other for over two decades now. Together, they have delivered some of the greatest hits in contemporary Indian cinema. In an exclusive chat, the duo talk about their filmmaking journey and the keystones of their partnership

- SUHANI SINGH

"Just the other day, we were doing mandavali," says filmmaker Reema Kagti as she leans back comfortably on a plush couch at Zoya Akhtar's sea-facing house in Mumbai's Bandra. Mandavali is a Marathi word, which means trying to reach a consensus after disagreements or discussion. In the case of Zoya and Reema, who have together delivered a slew of hits like Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara (2011), Talaash (2012) and Gully Boy (2019), that mandavali a few days back was over stories and scripts they will be working on in 2024. This year has been an "especially jammed" one for the two. May saw the release of their web series Dahaad (Amazon Prime Video), a crime drama centred around a serial killer, and in August came the much-awaited season two of Made in Heaven (2019-). These days, they're looking forward to the December release of their highly-anticipated feature, The Archies, on Netflix. "We are exhausted," says Zoya. "I want to deliver the film and then we will start writing."