Neha Dhupia has two major projects landing almost simultaneously. Her international film debut, 52 Blue, will have its European premiere at the 17th London Indian Film Festival on July 9, months after the film first screened in North America at the Washington, DC International Film Festival in April. Her new web series, Perfect Family, launched today.
Directed by Egyptian filmmaker Ali El Arabi, 52 Blue is a coming-of-age drama about Ashish, a 23-year-old who has lived under his father’s strict control most of his life. Backed by his mother’s support, he sets out to travel from India to Qatar to attend the 2022 FIFA World Cup and meet Lionel Messi. The film, shot extensively in Kochi, is less about football and more about a young man finding himself. Dhupia plays the mother, an emotional constant in the story. She stars alongside Adil Hussain and Yadav Shashidhar.
The series that dropped today, Perfect Family, takes a different register entirely. It follows the Karkarias, a family whose polished image cracks when a crisis pushes them into therapy. Each session unspools into confrontation, humour and uncomfortable truth-telling. Dhupia plays a central role in the ensemble.
Both projects put her in territory she knows well: characters who hold families together while carrying everyone else’s weight.
