It is a moment of pride for Sukant Goel. The Kaala Pani actor’s debut feature as lead in Kaisi Ye Paheli is slated to have its world premiere at the New York Indian Film Festival (NYIFF) on June 21. The murder mystery set in Sikkim, has been written and directed by first-time filmmaker Ananyabrata Chakravorty. Apart from Goel, the film also stars veteran actress Sadhana Singh and Rajit Kapur in pivotal roles.
For Goel, there were two interesting things which made him greenlight the project. “One was the murder mystery angle, where there are clues, but it never really leads to any answers and the other was this very interesting mother and son dynamic, which I think is actually the core of the film. Usually, one sees this relationship play out in conventional ways onscreen but this was unlike anything I have seen. The gaze is quite different here,” he says.
It seems to be a good year for Goel with his short film Qadira, too, being screened at film festivals, including the Dada Saheb Phalke Film Festival and more recently, at the 10th Bengal International Film Festival 2025. The actor had met Rohit Saha, the director of the film, on the sets of Vasan Bala’s Monica, O My Darling, where the latter had worked as an AD. “Even Vasan had been impressed by him. And told Rohit to call me if he ever has a role for me in a film. Two years later, he called me for Qadira,” he recalls, sharing that the short film is based on the idea that when you think life is over for you because of your own insular problems, it has a way of showing you something which is much bigger than you.
His first Malayalam film L2 Empuraan also released earlier this year and was a commercial success. Directed by acclaimed actor Prithviraj Sukumaran, the sequel to the 2019 film Lucifer was an enriching experience for Goel who is all praises for the director. “Prithvi was extremely clear about what he wanted. He has technical knowledge of almost all departments and you can’t really fool him.” he shares.
However, the downer came in the form of Netflix shelving the second season of the critically-acclaimed series Kaala Pani. “It really is quite shocking and tragic. The writers had been working on the script for more than a year and from what I heard, the second season was even better than the first,” he shares.
In all his recent outings in films or web series, think Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar in which he plays the seemingly innocent looking manager who tries to molest Parineeti Chopra’s character, or the antagonist of Monica, O My Darling, or Chiru in Kaala Pani, whose character graph from selfish gains to guilt and finally redemption made him one of the most interesting actors in the show, Goel has a penchant for taking on roles, which are complex and layered. “We can’t figure anyone out. So, it’s nice to have that little mystery in the character. I’m glad that makers think I can do these parts; I’m more than happy to do them as long as I’m not repeating myself too much,” he says.
Goel is looking forward to the release of several projects, including Anurag Kashyap’s feature Bandar, Anubhuti Kashyap’s next, The Last Man in Tower based on Aravind Adiga’s novel of the same name and The Earth Was Made for Lovers by filmmaker Shishir Jha.