Ambiecka Pandit-Sudip Sharma on 'Babita Singh…': A complex drama told through a cop and crime

Ambiecka Pandit-Sudip Sharma on 'Babita Singh…': A complex drama told through a cop and crime

Published on: Aug 26, 2026, 16:07:39 IST

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Mumbai, Writer-director Sudip Sharma, known for his critically-acclaimed shows "Paatal Lok" and "Kohrra", knew he had a wonderful script when he first heard the story of "Babita Singh Reporting", a film about an under-confident female cop who is pulled into solving the murder of her childhood friend.

Nimisha Sajayan plays the pliant assistant sub-inspector who journeys home with her husband after being suspended. While there, she realises that her childhood friend has been murdered and she decides to investigate.

Sharma, who serves as an executive producer, is not new to cops or crime stories but when he received the script, written by Amita Vyas, he wanted a capable director to explore the psyche of a female police officer and he found that in Ambiecka Pandit, who was one of the directors on "Black Warrant". She makes her feature film debut with the movie.

"I had already seen 'Black Warrant', which she had directed episodes of and she just seemed like the right person for it. We met and realized we are on the same page with regards to how we are looking at the film'. Then the journey kind of started from there," Sharma told PTI in an interview.

He likened his job on the Prime Video movie to that of a curator.

"The canvas was provided by the writer, then the director came in and did her painting on it and my job was just to make sure that they are allowed to make the painting the way we want to make and to provide them all the easel and the paint brushes," he added.

Pandit said she found great support in Sharma as she has always believed in directing characters as complex human beings rather than reducing them to stereotypes and Sharma shares that belief.

"We both enjoy cinema that is immersive in that sense, that is not talking down to you, that is giving you an experience, telling you a story and inviting you into that world. I would think that is common," she said, adding that it was comforting to have Sharma as a bouncing board for her ideas and dilemmas.

"There was no intrusion in that sense that he will come in and step in as a director or a filmmaker, so he kept that side of him very separate. But on the other hand, I had the benefit of having somebody with his experience and his skill set to kind of give me insights when I needed to have a bouncing board. Like, when I'm not sure which way to go, ask his advice. Honestly, it felt like I had a cushion, so it did not feel like I would fall completely."

Crime at the centre of the story, both Pandit and Sharma believe, was just a way in to explore a larger story about relationships and the journey back to oneself after getting lost.

"Crime was a vehicle, a conduit of sorts, to tell a larger story and that is a very clever move because it is a very accessible vehicle. If you have a crime, a lot of people can understand and accept it and through that Amita has told me a journey of a woman coming back home to herself through this process. I found that actually very interesting, because it has a pace and it tells you something deeper without slowing it down," he said.

Pandit said the murder of the protagonist's friend lends an urgency to the story and it was a deliberate choice for them to write a female cop who is under confident.

"When you depict a female cop but you subtract her gender identity, you are also doing a disservice to what it actually means to be a female cop because the police is a gatekeeper of law and order.

"When a female takes on that role, by virtue of being female, she takes on that role differently. So, the choices that Babita as a female cop is making in the film, if I replace her with a male cop, they would be different… She naturally has an empathy or softness or sensitivity that a male may not have…"

Pandit said she was a huge fan of Sajayan's body of work and it was a delight to watch her unravel the layers of her character in the movie. The Malayalam cinema star, known for her work in "The Great Indian Kitchen", "Nayattu", "Malik", "Crazxy", "Poacher" and "Dabba Cartel", was the first choice for the role.

"I personally feel like in Nimisha's face there is something, there is an earnestness, purity in her and there is a naivete in her view of the world that I thought would translate beautifully for Baby's character. She was the first choice for the film. If I could say it myself, I think she has done a tremendous job," Pandit said.

"Babita Singh Reporting" will release on Prime Video on August 28.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.

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