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Archie Panjabi talks about her tense thriller ‘Hijack’

Hijack is streaming on Apple TV+ now, with new episodes dropping weekly.

Archie Panjabi talks about her tense thriller ‘Hijack’

The new Apple TV+ series Hijack stars well-known actress Archie Panjabi in the role of counter-terrorist agent Zarah, who gets a tip that there has been a “serious incident” on board a plane bound for London.

The much-talked-about series also features Idris Elba who plays Sam Nelson, an accomplished corporate negotiator – who tries to use his professional skills to save everyone on board.


The first two episodes of the series debuted June 28 on Apple TV+.

Panjabi, who previously starred on Departure and Snowpiercer, talks about the qualities she relished the most about playing Zarah on Hijack.

“She is quick-witted. She has got a dry sense of humour, but one of the qualities I relished the most about playing her is she can be quite abrasive. She is not afraid to say what she thinks; instead of just calmly saying, ‘Can we have a conversation?’ she’ll just bang on the glass door or she walks (straight) into the room,” said the 51-year-old

The actress reveals she looked at someone she knows for inspiration for playing the character.

“I have always been very intrigued by people’s idiosyncrasies from a very young age, and then copying them, enjoying that whole process of imitating. The more and more I work, as soon as I see something that stands out from somebody on the street or somebody that I know, I just file it inside and hope that it will be useful for my next role,” she said.

Hijack is streaming on Apple TV+ now, with new episodes dropping weekly.

Stay tuned to this space for more updates!

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Sudha Kongara on ‘Parasakthi’ and online backlash, says ‘There is slandering and defamation of the worst kind’

Sudha Kongara is among the few Tamil directors whose films carry a distinct voice

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Sudha Kongara on ‘Parasakthi’ and online backlash, says ‘There is slandering and defamation of the worst kind’

Highlights

  • Sudha Kongara on the turbulence around Parasakthi, from certification demands to online attacks
  • Why the film frames the 1965 anti-Hindi agitation through one man’s choices
  • Balancing politics, melodrama and cinema
  • How music, casting and tone were shaped by craft, not compromise

A film surrounded by noise

Sudha Kongara is among the few Tamil directors whose films carry a distinct voice. With Parasakthi, that voice has had to compete with chaos. Long before release, the film was caught in disputes over its title, shifting cast announcements, ED searches, plagiarism claims and, finally, a list of changes demanded by the Central Board of Film Certification.

In all that, the film itself risked becoming secondary. Parasakthi, starring Sivakarthikeyan, Ravi Mohan, Atharvaa and Sreeleela in her Tamil debut, retells the 1965 anti-Hindi imposition agitation in Tamil Nadu. The core of the film unfolds over just 19 days , from January 24–25 to February 12, 1965.

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