The Next Edition with Mallika Kapur

When Deepa Mehta began filming Water in Varanasi, India, protesters burned the sets and forced production to a halt. The film, the final chapter in her trilogy exploring fire, earth, and water as metaphors for social realities across the Indian subcontinent, was eventually made in Sri Lanka. Twenty years later, Mehta and actor Lisa Ray look back on what they built, what it cost, and why the story still matters.   Critics’ Choice Deepa Mehta and Lisa Ray reflect on what it meant to commit fully to a story about women on the margins and why the film continues to move audiences around the world. As Lisa Ray puts it, it was made with such sincerity that people could feel it — “it was the little indie film that could.”   Close-Up: Deepa described making Water without an agenda; Lisa described surrendering to the role rather than performing it. Here, they focus on the process — how the film was made, the close-knit community that formed around it, and what it felt like to work in a simpler time, when no one retreated to their trailer between takes.   The Edit This conversation moves across memory, politics, identity, and time with two of the most influential women in Indian cinema thinking aloud together.   Epilogue Twenty years on, Water is no longer met with outrage or political defence. As Deepa puts it, it feels like a truth that never dies, it’s still finding new audiences, still landing where it needs to.   Featured Clips in this episode: 79th Academy Award Nominations   Credits:    Host: Mallika Kapur   Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production   Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Rachna Sukuru Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta

Lara Love Hardin lost everything. Writing helped her find her way back. In this conversation, the author of the New York Times bestseller  and Oprah’s book club pick reflects on The Many Lives of Mama Love, a memoir of addiction, incarceration, motherhood, and recovery. She talks  about reading as her first addiction, writing as a survival tool within prison walls, and what it takes to tell the truth without softening it for the page.   Author’s Note: Lara traces her earliest attachment to books, long before prescription drugs or heroin, framing literature as both refuge and obsession.   Margins Lara reflects on what it means to carry a past without being defined by it. Addiction, prison, motherhood, and authorship are all layers that make her who she is.    The Spine Lara speaks about prison as a place where every woman had a “superpower”. Hers  was writing. By helping other inmates with their correspondence, writing got her through her darkest days.    Footnotes: The conversation goes  beyond the book. Lara speaks about re-entering the workforce after incarceration, the barriers women face, and her work today as a ghostwriter, literary agent, and co-founder of the Gemma Project. She considers what Mama Love could not yet include — a quieter chapter defined by steadiness, work, and rest.   Featured Clips in this episode: Oprah selects "The Many Lives of Mama Love" as newest book club selection Message from Lara Love’s sons for Oprah Credits:    Host: Mallika Kapur   Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production   Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Rachna Sukuru Editorial Assistance: Devanshi Chandak Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta

Indian journalist, historian and bestselling author Shrabani Basu has spent her career rescuing stories that history forgot. She talks about uncovering the extraordinary bond between Queen Victoria and Abdul Karim, bringing spy and SOE agent Noor Inayat Khan into the light, and why these stories matter more than ever.   Preface: From researching the story of curry, to writing about Abdul Karim’s extraordinary  relationship with Queen Victoria, and bringing Noor Inayat Khan’s story to light, Shrabani Basu has dedicated her career to uncovering stories that history has overlooked.   From the Archives: Shrabani takes us through her process. Her books  often begin with a chance discovery, followed by years of research, poring over archives untouched for over a hundred years.   Legacy: Shrabani shares the pride she feels in reviving buried stories and the impact they’ve had. From reconnecting Abdul Karim's descendants with his story to campaigning for the Noor Inayat Khan Memorial in London, the first plaque dedicated to a woman of Indian origin.   Keeper of History: Shrabani continues her journey to bring untold stories to life, giving  trailblazers their rightful place in history. Featured Clips in this episode: Victoria & Abdul (2017) Official Trailer Victoria & Abdul (2017) Movie clip Noor Inayat Khan: The Unveiling of the Memorial Credits:    Host: Mallika Kapur   Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production   Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producers: Rachna Sukuru , Meghna Gulati Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta

Pulitzer winning photojournalist Lynsey Addario has spent her career documenting war and covering conflict. She discusses her commitment to capturing hard truths and opens up about what happens when she puts the camera down and steps back into life as a wife and mother.    Aperture: She captured images of the moon as a child.That sense of wonder and beauty guides Lynsey as she travels the world, documenting pivotal moments in modern history with grace and grit.   Focus: Lynsey talks about the boundaries she sets for herself as a photojournalist: being respectful of her subjects, knowing when to intervene, and stepping back when the situation calls for it.    The Raw image: Lynsey opens up about what it’s like to be behind the lens – the grief that comes with witnessing lives lost, the constant threat to her own wellbeing, and processing the trauma of being held hostage twice.   Exposure: Lynsey talks about photographing a subject to becoming the subject in the recently released National Geographic documentary, Love+War.   Featured Clips in this episode: Love + War Official Trailer Credits:    Host: Mallika Kapur   Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production   Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producers: Rachna Sukuru , Meghna Gulati Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta

Award-winning British-Turkish novelist, political scientist and activist Elif Shafak discusses  her bestselling novel The Island of Missing Trees, her multicultural upbringing and the fragile bond between humans and nature. Prologue:Elif opens with a daring narrative choice: choosing a fig tree as storyteller.  Roots:Moving between countries, cultures, and languages, Elif grew up feeling like an outsider. She speaks candidly about displacement, belonging, and finding her literary voice in a language that is not her mother tongue.  Trunk:Elif confronts the realities of being a woman novelist in Turkey, where writing about ‘taboo’ subjects brought public scrutiny and an investigation. She reflects on the responsibility that comes with storytelling and her resolve to do so with honesty and purpose.  Ecosystem:In an age of speed and instant gratification, Elif makes the case to slow down and appreciate literature and nature. She champions the power of curiosity as a way to keep creativity alive.   Credits:  Host: Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Rachna Sukuru Editorial Assistance: Devanshi Chandak Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta

Indian journalist Barkha Dutt is one of the most fearless reporters of her generation. Not just for the conflicts she's covered, but for her unflinching commitment to the stories others simply won't tell.    Breaking: From the peaks of Kargil to covering India’s COVID crisis, Barkha Dutt has had a front row seat to India’s defining moments – bearing witness to war, terror, and tragedy while navigating the personal cost of the stories she tells.   Inside Story: Barkha shares the stories that have stayed with her - – the soldiers she’s met on the frontlines, the world leaders she’s interviewed, and the moments that forced her to question the meaning of life.   Exclusive: She opens up about trauma, grief, and loss, including the heartbreak of losing her father during the pandemic, and reflects on what it truly means to bear witness with empathy and humanity.   Feature: Today, as founder of Mojo Story, Barkha is clear-eyed about technology. It can sharpen your tools, but it can't identify a story. That, she says, will always be the job of a human reporter.   Featured Clips in this episode: NDTV MusicNDTV We The PeopleMojo Story - Pahalgam Attack - Barkha DuttNDTV Kashmir Terror AttackNDTV Pahalgam AttackNCC Girls Marching ContingentBarkha Dutt Kargil ReportageCapt. Viram Batra “Yeh Dil Maange More”Pepsi Yeh Dil Maange More JingleVishal Batra & Barkha Dutt Interview Credits:    Host: Mallika Kapur is an award-winning journalist and seasoned interviewer with over two decades of experience in television and live journalism. Across three countries and various impactful roles at CNN and Bloomberg, she has reported on major global events, including the London train bombings, the Indian Ocean tsunami and the Mumbai terror attacks. She also moderates news making panels at global forums, leading insightful conversations with the world’s top figures in business and culture.   Reach out on Instagram and LinkedIn   This is a Maed In India Production   Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Sound Designer & Mix Engineer: Kartik Kulkarni Producers: Rachna Sukuru, Meghna Gulati Sound Engineer: Nihar Temkar Artwork: Alika Gupta  

Yann Martel, Canadian novelist best known for Life of Pi, discusses faith, storytelling, translations, and new books. He revisits Life of Pi’s two endings and how age and technology might reshape Pi’s voice. He reflects on his shift from rationalism to spiritual openness, the challenges of translation, and experiments with form and memory in upcoming projects.

Welcome to The Next Edition, a show that dives headfirst into the glorious creative mess that lies behind every masterpiece. In this season, writers, journalists, filmmakers, newsmakers and artists revisit their most iconic works and reveal how they would reimagine it, if they were given a chance.  Because a story is never truly done.