The Indian Film Project has locked its Season 16 lineup, and it reads less like a single-industry festival and more like a two-day campus for every kind of storyteller. On October 24 and 25, 2026, Mehboob Studios in Mumbai will host actors, directors, writers and artists for conversations, masterclasses and workshops that stretch from cinema and streaming to music, advertising and AI.
Leading the film-facing side are Keerthy Suresh, Radhika Apte, Rana Daggubati, Mrunal Thakur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Huma Qureshi, Nithya Menen and Pratik Gandhi, with National Award-winning filmmaker Vetrimaaran also on the bill.
The sessions fans will circle
- Keerthy Suresh and Radhika Apte share the stage for On Playing Power Ft. AKKA, a conversation tied to their upcoming Netflix and YRF series Akka.
- Vetrimaaran breaks down his filmmaking approach in Making of a Modern Auteur.
- Rana Daggubati moves beyond acting to discuss backing new talent in More Than a Star: On Nurturing the New Wave.
- Huma Qureshi revisits her roles and decisions in Many Lives of Huma Qureshi.
- Pratik Gandhi and Ratna Pathak Shah unpack character-building in The Actor at Work.
Why the Akka session stands out
The Keerthy-Radhika pairing is the marquee draw because it moves two of the most talked-about actors from a streaming announcement to a public craft conversation. Keerthy described IFP as a gathering of people “genuinely passionate about storytelling,” while Radhika said creativity thrives when different perspectives meet. For fans, the session is an early window into how the two actors approached playing women who hold power.
The festival is not only about Bollywood. Screenwriters Juhi Chaturvedi and Varun Grover will discuss writing across formats, Sujoy Ghosh will talk about subverting expectations in cinema, and Shefali Shah joins a session on audacity and performance. Craig Mazin appears in a virtual AMA, while Sonam Wangchuk leads a session on sustainable living and artist Raghava KK examines how AI and algorithms are reshaping creative work.
IFP started in 2011 as a 50-hour filmmaking challenge. Fifteen years on, its 16th edition keeps that experimental spirit but has widened the lens to cover the entire creator economy. That makes it less a red-carpet moment and more a working festival for people who want to see how stories get made.
Source: Hindustan Times
Comments