Vaani Kapoor voices concern over Delhi’s poor air quality after Diwali

A day after Diwali celebrations, actress Vaani Kapoor, who is currently in the national capital, has voiced concern over New Delhi’s worsening air quality, and hopes next year, there’s a way to celebrate “without dimming the air we breathe.” Vaani took to Instagram, where she shared that she woke up to the alarming AQI touching 447 in New Delhi. She wrote: “Woke up to Delhi’s AQI touching 447, one of the highest in the world today. Maybe next year, we find a way to celebrate without dimming the air we breathe.”

Earlier this year, Vaani made her debut in OTT with “Mandala Murders,” based on the novel “The Butcher of Benares.” Set in the fictional town of Charandaspur, Uttar Pradesh, it blends mystery, supernatural horror, and psychological thriller elements. The series follows detectives Rea Thomas and Vikram Singh as they investigate ritualistic murders linked to a secret cult, the Aayastis, and a mythical entity called Yast. It explores themes of faith vs science and love vs sacrifice, combining modern police procedural with occult practices.

The series also stars Vaibhav Raj Gupta, Surveen Chawla, Raghubir Yadav, and Shriya Pilgaonkar in key roles.

Earlier, the actress had spoken up about “Mandala Murders,” and said that there was a lot of unspoken mutual respect for one another and for one another’s craft.

She earlier told IANS, “It’s an emotionally driven storyline. There are emotional complexities to every character. Which is why you need to understand that, give each other that space, that respect. If there’s an intense scene going on for another character, how may I help? How can I be of some assistance? And how can I be a good support system for the part, not just only for your character, but for others as well. I’m grateful I got to work with brilliant performers”.

She will next be seen in “Badtameez Gill” directed by Navjot Gulati. The film also stars Aparshakti Khurana, Paresh Rawal, Sheeba Chaddha, Richard Bhakti Klein, and Monica Chaudhary. The 37-year-old actress made her debut in Bollywood with the 2013 film “Shuddh Desi Romance” alongside Sushant Singh Rajput and Parineeti Chopra. She later starred in the Tamil remake “Aaha Kalyanam” opposite Nani, for which she learned Tamil, but it turned out to be a box-office failure. In 2016, Vaani was seen in “Befikre” opposite Ranveer Singh, set in Paris, but despite its vibrant setting, the film failed . After a brief hiatus, she returned with “War” in 2019, co-starring Hrithik Roshan.

She was then seen alongside Akshay Kumar in the 2021 film “Bell Bottom,” which was inspired from real life hijacking events in India by Khalistani terrorists during the 1980s, such as the Indian Airlines Flight 423, 405 and 421 hijackings. Vaani was then seen in “Chandigarh Kare Aashiqui,” in which she played a transgender woman. Her next film, “Shamshera” opposite Ranbir Kapoor. After a short break, she appeared in “Khel Khel Mein,” an ensemble comedy, and in 2025, she starred opposite Ajay Devgn in “Raid 2,” marking her first box-office success since “War.”

Agencies