The Berlin applause has not yet translated onto Indian screens. As of now, Not A Hero has not announced an Indian theatrical release.
Sikkim-based Tribeny Rai’s Shape of Momo is a film worth noting in this context. It’s a Nepali-language film that follows Bishnu (Gaumaya Gurung), who quits her job in Delhi and returns to her home in the mountains of Sikkim. With the gorgeous landscape of the area, Bishnu also enters familiar, intrusive territory, like the pressure to find a suitable husband. If you have ever visited your relatives and were asked about marriage before being offered a glass of water, this film will speak to you.
Bishnu’s inability to make the perfectly shaped momo is a sore point for her family, her shapeless dumplings becoming a report card of her womanhood. Rai cast her own mother (Pashupati Rai) and grandmother (Bhanu Maya Rai) as Bishnu’s mother and grandmother, respectively. Her grandmother did not live to see the film’s release.
The festival run was enormous. Shape of Momo premiered at the 2025 Busan International Film Festival in the Vision section, where it won two awards, made the rounds at the San Sebastián International Film Festival, won Best Film in the Indian Languages Competition category at the 2025 Kolkata International Film Festival and won the Grand Jury Prize at the Seattle International Film Festival this year.
By the time it was released in India in May, Shape of Momo had already won 15 international awards and received enormous backing. Rana Daggubati’s Spirit Media pledged its support, while acclaimed filmmakers Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti and Payal Kapadia joined the project as executive producers. Still, the release came with conditions. Rai, by the cinema powers that be, was told that more cities would get screenings only if the film performed well. Shape of Momo had screenings in Delhi, Pune, Mumbai and other cities, but very little is known about its box office success. In Nepal, it is estimated to have gathered N₹84,710 on its first day, according to online sources.