Samir Zaidi, director of 'Two Sinners', emerges as a powerful new voice in Indian film

Indian cinema has a long tradition of discovering new storytellers in unexpected places, and one recent voice that has attracted quiet, steady attention is Samir Zaidi. His debut short film Two Sinners has been travelling across international festivals, earning strong praise for its emotional depth and moral complexity. But what makes Zaidi’s trajectory especially compelling is how organically it has unfolded — grounded not in film school training, but in lived observation, patient apprenticeships and a deep belief in the poetry of everyday life.

Zaidi’s relationship with creativity began well before he ever stepped onto a set. “As a child, I was fascinated by small, fleeting things — the way people spoke, the silences between arguments, the patterns of light on the walls,” he reflects. He didn’t yet have the vocabulary for what he was absorbing, but the instinct was already in place. At 13, he turned to poetry, sensing that the act of shaping emotions into words offered a kind of clarity he couldn’t find elsewhere. “I realised creativity wasn’t something external I had to chase; it was a way of processing the world,” he says. “Whether it was writing or filmmaking, it came from the same impulse: to make sense of what I didn’t fully understand.”

Two Sinners marks Samir Zaidi’s striking directorial debut www.easterneye.biz

That grounding in observation became an unexpected advantage once he entered the film industry. Zaidi didn’t come through the conventional route of film school; instead, he built his language on set, working his way up the ranks one project at a time. His credits as assistant director includes collaborations with acclaimed filmmakers Vishal Bhardwaj, Anurag Kashyap, and Dibakar Banerjee, as well as major projects such as Sacred Games and the Hollywood action blockbuster Extraction. Each experience, he says, reshaped how he viewed storytelling.

“My journey has been a mix of learning, resilience and constant discovery,” he explains. “You learn by observing, by failing, by figuring things out. What stays constant is the reminder that filmmaking is a collective art form — built on collaboration, trust and patience.”

From assistant to auteur: Samir Zaidi’s journey in film

But among his mentors, Zaidi speaks of Vishal Bhardwaj with particular reverence. Working as Bhardwaj’s assistant became, in his words, “one of the most defining parts of my journey.” What struck him wasn’t only Bhardwaj’s technical mastery but his way of seeing the world. “Vishal sir approaches filmmaking with immense honesty and curiosity. As his assistant, I learned that directing isn’t only about visual language — it’s about sensitivity, rhythm, and silence. The learning goes far beyond craft.”

Zaidi admires Bhardwaj’s fearlessness most of all — his ability to embrace complexity, whether moral, emotional or structural. “He treats stories like living organisms,” Zaidi says. “There’s a musicality in how he tells stories, a rhythm that’s both poetic and grounded in truth. And his integrity as an artist is something I aspire to.”

It was after several years working behind the camera that Zaidi felt the inner push to create something unequivocally his own. The first draft of Two Sinners emerged seven years earlier, evolving quietly as he matured. The real turning point, however, came in a moment almost comically simple: a friend pointed out that Zaidi had white hair. “It hit me deeply — time was passing, and I was still waiting,” he says with a laugh. “That moment pushed me to stop overthinking.”

Zaidi’s Two Sinners earns acclaim on the festival circuit

The result was Two Sinners, a taut, introspective drama about two brothers caught in the throes of moral conflict as they prepare to commit a violent act. Zaidi describes it as a film about what lingers around violence rather than the violence itself: silence, hesitation, doubt and the weight of patriarchal expectations. “I wanted to explore the questions we tend to avoid — about justice, retribution, and how violence reshapes people,” he says. “The film lives in that grey space where right and wrong aren’t clearly defined.”

Despite modest resources, Two Sinners struck a chord. Festival audiences responded with unusual emotional intensity — something that still humbles Zaidi. “We weren’t chasing visibility,” he says. “We just wanted to make something honest. So, when people say the film stayed with them, that’s the most fulfilling thing. When a story finds a quiet place in someone’s mind and lingers — that’s the real reward.”

Indian cinema discovers Samir Zaidi’s quiet, powerful vision

His intention, however, was never to preach. “I see the film as exploration, not a statement,” Zaidi clarifies. “I wanted the audience to feel rather than judge — to see how fragile the line is between victim and perpetrator. If it makes people reflect on their own choices or question their own sense of morality, then it’s done its job.”

Zaidi’s influences reflect his taste for emotional precision. He names David Fincher as one of his biggest inspirations. “There’s a precision in his storytelling — the way he constructs tension, emotion and control in every frame,” he says. “But what draws me most is how he uses that precision to explore chaos and obsession. Filmmaking isn’t just about capturing beauty; it’s about finding truth, even in unsettling places.”

Samir Zaidiwith the Clap Board

As he looks ahead, Zaidi is already nurturing his next chapters. He is currently developing two projects — a feature film and another short — both delving into morally complex territories though in entirely different worlds. Alongside filmmaking, he has also been creating Dori sketches, a series of single-line artworks capturing his impressions of Mumbai. “I’m focused on growing as a storyteller,” he says. “To keep experimenting with form and tone, and to find new ways of telling stories that feel deeply personal and culturally rooted.”

For someone so driven by nuance and contradiction, it’s no surprise that Zaidi’s love for cinema comes from its ability to hold both at once. “Cinema allows me to feel, to question, and to connect,” he says. “It’s the one medium that can hold contradictions without trying to solve them. Filmmaking isn’t about control — it’s about surrender. Every film is a chance to understand people a little better.”

With Two Sinners, Samir Zaidi has marked his arrival as a thoughtful, incisive voice in contemporary filmmaking — one rooted in empathy, curiosity and quiet courage. And as his next projects take shape, it’s clear that he is a storyteller who will continue to evolve with uncommon honesty, always finding poetry in the spaces most of us overlook.

Instagram: @ samzie__ & @twosinnersfilm