Prime Video lifts the veil on Daldal at Iffi showcase

GOA: Prime Video set the stage for its upcoming Hindi original Daldal with an exclusive first look at the 56th International Film Festival of India, drawing audiences into a brooding crime world where Mumbai’s newest DCP Rita Ferreira hunts a cold-blooded killer while wrestling with her own buried wounds.

Adapted from Vish Dhamija’s bestselling novel Bhendi Bazaar, the psychological thriller is produced by Vikram Malhotra and Suresh Triveni for Abundantia Entertainment. Triveni has created the series and co written it with Sreekanth Agneeaswaran, Rohan D’Souza and Priya Saggi, while Amrit Raj Gupta directs. Bhumi Satish Pednekkar, Aditya Rawal and Samara Tijori lead the cast. The series will stream soon on Prime Video in India and more than 240 countries and territories.

After a closed door teaser reveal, a fireside chat titled Beyond the Stereotype explored how Daldal builds a fresh blueprint for powerful female characters. The panel featured Pednekkar, Triveni and the creative team alongside Nikhil Madhok, director and head of originals at Prime Video India.

Madhok said the platform’s push for female centred storytelling is a considered shift from decades of screen narratives shaped by the male gaze. He highlighted a wide slate ranging from Daldal to Dahaad and Made in Heaven, all driven by women with agency, complexity and emotional truth.

Pednekkar described the intensity of playing Rita Ferreira, a character who reveals more through silence than speech. She said the role demanded a physical language of guilt, rage and restraint, calling it one of the most demanding and rewarding performances of her career.

Malhotra said Abundantia has long championed nuanced portrayals of women through titles like Sherni, Jalsa and Hush Hush. He added that Daldal avoids boxing characters into good or bad, choosing instead to tell human stories with balance and honesty.

Triveni stressed that Daldal is not a simple whodunnit but an exploration of what drives people to the choices they make, while Gupta said the team worked to keep performances understated to let the audience sit with the characters’ contradictions.

Daldal will premiere exclusively on Prime Video soon, promising a crime drama that is as much about the shadows within as the dangers outside.