‘Airlift’ Director Raja Krishna Menon Backs Coming-of-Age Drama ‘Harbir’ at Film Bazaar
Raja Krishna Menon’s Bandra West Pictures is producing “Harbir,” the debut feature from Angad Bawa. It is being presented at Film Bazaar in Goa.
The film follows Harbir, a 15-year-old Sikh boy who is scouted for an admission trial at Mumbai’s prestigious Bombay International School of Swimming. During the trial, concerns are raised about his long hair, requiring parental consent for a possible haircut. As the boy grapples with this decision, he faces opposition from his family and the larger Sikh community, who view his potential choice as a betrayal of faith and identity.
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The project draws from Bawa’s personal experiences as a competitive swimmer navigating his Sikh identity. “Through Harbir, I want to offer an alternative narrative that doesn’t push an ideology, but instead explores the internal struggle of a character navigating societal expectations and their right to make a free, personal choice,” Bawa told Variety.
Menon, known for directing “Airlift,” starring Akshay Kumar, and “Chef,” a Saif Ali Khan-starring Bollywood adaptation of the Jon Favreau Hollywood film of the same name, said he was drawn to the universal themes in Bawa’s story. “Everyone in some way or the other is conflicted about the choices they have to make and the repercussions of these choices to themselves and the people around them,” Menon said.
The project recently won the Ford Foundation’s Writer’s INK Screenplay Lab in 2024. The team is currently seeking international partners at Film Bazaar. “We believe this is a film that should travel beyond India and the diaspora,” said Menon. “We would like to find partners who can help us take the film to as diverse an audience as possible through festivals and international markets.”
Production is scheduled to begin in September 2025, with completion targeted for the first half of 2026.
Bawa previously directed short films “Unresolved” and “Take 2,” which screened at over 25 international festivals. Menon has two upcoming directorial projects in the Hindi and Malayalam languages, followed by what he describes as a “unique sci-fi project.”
Film Bazaar (Nov. 20-24) is the project market component of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Nov. 20-28) in Goa.
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