19-633: Ahaan is a 2019 Indian comedy-drama film written and directed by Nikhil Pherwani. Starring Arif Zakaria , Niharika Singh , Plabita Borthakur and Rajit Kapur and produced by Will Finds Way Films, Ahaan is India's first Hindi-language film starring a Down Syndrome person in the leading role, played by newcomer Abuli Mamaji. The film premiered at the Indian Film Festival of Melbourne in 2019, had its theatrical release in India on 19 March 2021 and premiered on Netflix on 15 May 2021. Jilted by his wife,
38-642: A Man Dance Like a Man is a 2004 Indian English-language dance drama film directed by Pamela Rooks based on the play of the same name by Mahesh Dattani . The film stars Shobana , Arif Zakaria and Anoushka Shankar in her acting debut. The film won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in English . Shobana and Anoushka Shankar were cast in the film due to their expertise in Bharatanatyam . After liking Arif Zakaria 's performance as
57-852: A Man (English). Zakaria travelled the globe since 2005 with the Australian musical show Merchants of Bollywood , performing major roles in the production across Europe, China, France, Poland, Hong Kong, Singapore and Australia (the last season in Sydney in 2010). The actor portrayed Rustom Sethna in Deepa Mehta 's Earth/1947 and Major Dhillon in Shyam Benegal 's Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: The Forgotten Hero . He also appeared in Home Delivery: Aapko... Ghar Tak , Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi , Deewaar and
76-700: A children's film "Pinti Ka Sabun" for the Children's Film Society of India ; (CFSI) this film is directed by Pramod Pathak. In 2017, Arif was seen in Vikram Bhatt 's web series Spotlight - Web series as famous actor/director/producer Dev Bannerjee. Featured in the short film Aamad - written and directed by Neeraj Udhwani for the Terribly Tiny Tales web portal. Arif Zakaria also worked in Raazi , directed by Meghna Gulzar , along with Alia Bhatt and Vicky Kaushal and
95-567: A eunuch in Darmiyaan (1997), he was cast in this film and underwent training in Bharatanatyam. The film was shot in Bangalore akin to the play. Shobana didn't watch the play because she didn't want to be influenced by it. Film critic Subhash K. Jha wrote that "Unlike Mahesh Dattani, who has deliberately denuded his film Morning Raga of the theatrical element, Pamela Rooks seems to revel in
114-435: A film on disability, the principal aim is to encourage inclusion. So, the best way to do that would be to encourage him to be an actor in my film. Also, in terms of representation this was the most accurate. If I had roped in an actor to play a differently-abled man he may not have been able to portray the nuances in the right manner. Somewhere down the line it wouldn't have been true to character. Of course, one had to go through
133-491: A lot of training with him. But with him you could never go wrong with things like body language and mannerisms. There was no chance of it becoming a caricature. I wanted it to be as real as possible." Ahaan released theatrically in India on 19 March 2021 and premiered on Netflix on 15 May 2021. Ahaan was acclaimed by critics with particular praise for the direction and performances. Sreeparna Sengupta of Times of India gave
152-665: A man with OCD finds eye-opening common ground and camaraderie with his neighbor, a young man with Down Syndrome. Nikhil Pherwani's observations made him realize how disabled individuals were treated differently, sometimes even less than human. This made him ponder on a few things – What goes on in the life of a young adult with intellectual disability? How do their parents cope with uncertainty about their child's future? Are they capable of leading an independent life? He went on to meet people with intellectual disabilities and their parents to understand their world better. The research gave an insight into many personal stories and this gave birth to
171-500: A pat on the back for not casting a regular actor in the role of a character with Down Syndrome . That would have been the easy way out. But it would have been far less effective. Udita Jhunjhunwala of Scroll wrote, 'A well-paced, if unsubtle, narrative, Ahaan is an optimistic, feelgood film that genially works towards normalising mental development disabilities and mental health issues.' Anna MM Vetticad of Firstpost gave it 3.5/5 stars and wrote, 'This entertaining, insightful film
190-619: A police officer in Jism 2 , starring Sunny Leone , appeared in Lootera and in Krrish 3 as Dr. Varun Shetty. Other releases of the actor are Dee Saturday Night , Darr At The Mall , Blue Mountain (all 2014) and Nanak Shah Fakir and Ishq Forever (both 2015). He is also acting in the play Gardish Mein Taare , directed by Saif Hyder Hasan, which is based on the life of Guru Dutt . In 2015, Zakaria produced
209-547: Is an American journalist. Zakaria completed his graduation from Sydenham College of Commerce and Economics . Zakaria married Namrata Sharma, a Fashion Writer , in 2002. The couple divorced in 2010. Zakaria began acting in theatre while in college and later moved on to work in television and films. He acted in numerous television serials like Chunauti , Karambhoomi , Mrityudand , Dhund , Aarzoo , Campus , Kaali - Ek Agnipariksha , etc. Arif acted in diverse roles in films like Darmiyaan , Hero , Asambhav and Dance Like
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#1733122198470228-544: Is an Indian actor. He has had roles in many films, beginning with his debut film Darmiyaan (1997), 1947: Earth (1998), Dance Like a Man (2004), and biographical projects Mardana and the controversial Nanak Shah Fakir . Arif Zakaria's uncle Rafiq Zakaria was a veteran politician from the Indian National Congress . His brother Asif Zakaria is also an INC politician and cousin Fareed Zakaria
247-512: Is poignant precisely because it does not set out to be a tearjerker. This and the casting are what make it a landmark in Indian cinema. Variety recommended Ahaan in the 'New Movies to Watch This Week' Column by Peter Debruge, Chief Film Critic - Variety Moneycontrol featured Ahaan in an Independence Day Series of 75 brave new Indian films that capture a million different ideas of India. Arif Zakaria Arif Zakaria (born 11 November 1966)
266-456: The Shah Rukh Khan film My Name is Khan . In 2011, Arif played the ghost that haunts the female protagonist in Vikram Bhatt 's Haunted and was appreciated for the ghastly portrayal of a piano teacher falling in love with his young student who gets murdered while making advances towards her and rapes her as a ghost, which forces her to commit suicide in the movie. He played the role of
285-578: The film Ahaan , directed by first-time director Nikhil Pherwani; a tender story of a young man with down syndrome . He is slated to shoot for an English film Swords and Sceptres , a re-telling of the story of the Rani of Jhansi . Plays the role of Gaus Khan. Shooting commenced from October 2017 in Jaipur. At present the actor is playing the role of Gen. Bakhtiyar in a romance-thriller series Qubool Hai 2.0 that will be streamed on all ZEE5 platform. Dance Like
304-423: The film a rating of 3.5/5 stars and praised the film, remarking 'Nikhil Pherwani, who has scripted and directed Ahaan , infuses the film's narrative with a warm energy, even as he brings to light the life, limitations and aspirations of a person with Down Syndrome . And to the filmmaker's credit, he does this without getting preachy and with a lot of empathy. Saibal Chatterjee of NDTV wrote: The director deserves
323-405: The idea of the film. With a screenplay in hand, he set out to meet several producers. However, producing the film was usually perceived as a challenge, owing to prejudices about the commercial viability of film dealing with such subject matter. Eventually, Nikhil Pherwani and his brother Abhishek produced it themselves, under their banner 'Will Finds Way Films' to safeguard the artistic integrity of
342-439: The project. Nikhil Pherwani met Abuli Mamaji at an NGO committed to the empowerment and development of intellectually disabled young adults. It was here that Mamaji told the director about his dream to be an actor. Fascinated by his statement, the director met him again from a research perspective and in the process landed up casting him for the titular role. Pherwani said in an interview to Free Press Journal "If you are making
361-497: The staginess of the original material". A critic from Rediff.com and wrote that " Dance Like A Man can be lauded for trying, though it could have done much better to rise above the bookishness that often hampers the script". Reviewing the film at its Chennai screening in October 2004, a critic from The Hindu wrote that "On the whole the story and the time zones lend themselves to visual poetry at times eventhoughthe dialogue
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