IFFM 2026 Exclusive | Saiyami Kher On Pal Bhar Ke Liye And Why She Chooses Meaningful Roles

Actor Saiyami Kher, who made her Bollywood debut in Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's romantic drama Mirzya (2016), has prioritise performance-driven roles over glamour. From Choked (2020), Ghoomer (2023), 8 A.M. Metro (2023) and Agni (2024), among others, Saiyami chose bold, critically acclaimed, and content-driven projects. Her next is fashion designer Vikram Phadnis’ Hindi-language drama Pal Bhar Ke Liye which is officially heading to the 2026 Indian Film Festival of Melbourne (IFFM) for its global premiere. For the unversed, the film marks Saiyami's second film to premiere at IFFM after R Balki’s Ghoomer. 

Ahead of its premiere, Saiyami Kher, in an interview with Outlook India spoke at length about Pal Bhar Ke Liye, her choice of unconventional role selections, representation of Indian films in global platforms and more. 

Saiyami, 34, called Pal Bhar Ke Liye a special film that moved her and taught her the value of life.

How did Pal Bhar Ke Liye script inspire her?

She broke down on the first day itself when Vikram called her for a narration and she said “yes” to it right away. On her role, the actress shared, “My character is very strong. It’s about this girl who's this go-getter, very ambitious fashion photographer and doing very well in her life. She's the best that you've got and there is an incident that completely changes and turns her life upside down. She's got a fiancé and the incident derails her life entirely and she completely loses control of whatever is happening in her life. It’s about relationships and family are so essential, because life is so momentary.”

“Life changes in a moment and lasts for a moment. So that's what the film is about. It was something which I really was moved by,” she added. 

The film also stars Tahir Raj Bhasin and Viineet Kumar Siingh. So, she feels fortunate to share screen space with both whom she really admires and likes their work.

'Shouldn't take life and health for granted'

After Ghoomer, this is the second film that has moved her a lot. She is glad it took two years for her to bag the film, but is happy that it came her way.

Kher shared that the film stayed with her after they finished shoot. “I feel that this film has taught me that the most important thing in life is your health and not taking it for granted and not taking life for granted because it's so short-lived. So I feel that it's a very philosophical but a very, very big learning that I've got out of this film,” she added. 

On choosing roles with gravity over glamour

Saiyami is interested to do “over-the-top, dancing in the mountains with chiffon sarees because that's the cinema we've grown up watching.”

But she is more attracted to real, raw performance and “characters which are flawed, great, which we see in our everyday life because those are characters which I relate to and like watching.“

“I just connect to more in-depth characters which moves people in a certain way or teaches, inspires people or it makes a difference to someone's life because that's something I connect to. I've been fortunate that I've been getting these kind of films coming my way and I really do hope that they continue to come because even as an actor, that's something which excites me much more than just two songs in a film.“

On Indian films going global

Indian films have earned acclamations and recognition in the recent times, bringing home honours. On representation of Indian films on global platforms, Saiyami shared, “I feel the attempt has always been there for our films to appeal internationally and I feel we've done very well be it at the Oscars, Cannes, and other prestigious film festivals.“

“With the Indian Film Festival in Melbourne, it's a festival where the audience is predominantly Indian that comes to watch because the Indian diaspora is quite big in Australia and abroad. So, the excitement that they have to watch Indians and Hindi and Malayalam and Marathi and other films and also see film stars from India come to Australia, it's a very different kind of excitement because in Mumbai, everyone sees everyone, everywhere. But for audiences in Australia, they're really excited because I saw that excitement during Ghoomer and the audiences are very big so I'm just very glad that the film is reaching larger audiences,“ she added.