Apr 19 2026 to Apr 19 2026 5 p.m.

Where

Bangalore International Centre

7 4th Main Rd, Stage 2, Domlur 560071

Event Description

80 minutes | Hindi with English subtitles | 2014 | India

What makes a star a god?

Being Bhaijaan explores Indian masculinity through the lives of three Salman Khan fans in small-town India, men who have built their bodies, their friendships, their very sense of self around a star. On the surface, it is a film about fandom. Look closer and it becomes a meditation on faith, on masculinity, on the very human need to find a god you can believe in: flaws, court cases, and all. 

Directors Samreen Farooqui and Shabani Hassanwalia (joining virtually) will be in conversation with Aastha Chauhan following the screening. They will discuss masculinity, identity, aspiration, and the emotional worlds men quietly build around cinema. The floor will then open to audience questions.

About the Organiser:
The Drawing Room Club is a Bangalore-based community that hosts intimate, conversation-forward gatherings. They aim to make the city feel less anonymous and a little more like home. Past gatherings have included Letters to Strangers and Letters of Hope.

Speakers

Samreen Farooqui
Filmmaker, Producer & Commissioning Editor
Samreen Farooqui is a filmmaker, producer, and commissioning editor from India with over 20 years of experience in non-fiction media, research, and narratives. Her work traces an India-in-transition through stories of changing socio-political realities, wildlife and environment, urban living, and technology. She co-founded Hit and Run Films, an independent factual films company behind critically acclaimed feature documentaries, and in 2021 established the film unit at Roundglass Sustain, where she has led the production and commissioning of over 150 original short films.

Shabani Hassanwalia
Writer & Filmmaker
Shabani Hassanwalia is a writer and a filmmaker, working with image making, research and narratives since the year 2000.

For eleven years, she was part of the core editorial team for First City Magazine, an arts and culture monthly that helped shape New Delhi’s relationship with itself. An INLAKS Fellow, Hassanwalia worked at The Sundance Institute, Los Angeles and the Documentary Filmmakers Group, London, as part of the fellowship. Additionally, she co-produced/directed feature-length documentary films with Samreen Farooqui that travelled to national and international festivals, and aired on various channels, including Being Bhaijaan (2014), Gali (2017) and Out of Thin Air (2009).

She is the co-editor and assistant director of Bombay Talkies ‘Star’, directed by Dibakar Banerjee, and is currently working on a documentary that emerged from the process. She is currently the chief editor and producer for the feminist think tank The Third Eye, powered by Nirantar, Centre for Gender and Education. She develops knowledge through feminist processes, in film, video, audio and text formats. The Third Eye is read by over 2 lakh readers across the rural-urban spectrum.

Aastha Chauhan
Artist & Curator
Aastha Chauhan is an artist and curator who teaches Curating Public and Community Art Projects at Srishti Manipal Institute of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore. Her practice is public, socially engaged, site-specific, collaborative, and multidisciplinary, with long-term work rooted in Delhi and Chamba, Uttarakhand. She has led projects such as the Delhi Walk Festival, International Khirkee Festival, Extension Khirkee Festival, and Aapki Sadak, and also serves as a board member of Henvalvani Community Radio.