Platform Magazine

June EZ is out now, featuring Sayani Gupta reflecting on new beginnings. With Aasmani, her directorial debut, she steps into a new creative identity and shares the journey that led her there. Grab your free copy via the link in bio. [platform, platform ez, digital magazine, digital zine, creative lifestyle, arts, art, photography, film, music, literature, design, fashion, Indian talent, Indian creatives, music India]

May ushers in a fresh wave of cutting-edge art, music, literature, and performance. Platform brings you a comprehensive list of everything you must read, watch, listen and attend this month. April’s must calendar includes a return to the iconic world of The Devil Wears Prada, a new novel from Booker Prize winner Douglas Stuart, and other exciting plays and performances. Read more on Platform Digital, link in bio. douglas_stuart @natalie.and.chester @portiaelanwrites @inthegreyfilm @netflix @20thcenturystudios @bleachersmusic @youngthegiant @maisiehpeters @virdas @ye @dattani23 @mortchatterjee @nadooindia @bare.bombay @rocacoebar.che #platform #creativelifestyle #mustwatch #mustread #mustlisten #mustattend #musteld #mustsee #mustdo [platform, must calendar, movies to watch, must read, listen, album releases, art, music, culture, Indian artists, performances, new restaurants]

This issue celebrates all our six genres. Be it our cover that shines the spotlight on three extremely important voices of the contemporary art world. Nikhil Chopra, along with HH Art Spaces, is all set to present For the Time Being, the sixth edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale; Shilpa Gupta, who continues to enthrall us with her provocative conversations through art, and Bharat Sikka, whose photographs capture the sensitivity of memory and modernity. We also present Martand Khosla, who is the principal architect of Lawh Wa Qalam M.F. Husain Museum in Doha that opens its doors this year. Award winner Kiran Desai shares her relationship with loneliness and making of her novel, The Loneliness of Sonia and Sunny. While Midival Punditz deconstruct their sound and tracks from their latest album, Love and Machines. Furthermore, we highlight vignettes from our playground. The Fashion of Now brings together four distinct ideologies that tell stories through fashion: we have Tarun Tahiliani, Gaurav Gupta, Ritwik Khanna in conversation with Arjun Saluja. The Film panel highlights hope for cinema and storytelling. Mira Nair, Kiran Rao, Ayesha Sood, Shahana Goswami, Christo Tomy and Jim Sarbh, all come together to discuss films and their future. [platform, platform magazine, creative lifestyle, magazine, arts, india arts, photography, Bharat Sikka, Shilpa Gupta, Nikhil Chopra, HH Arts, contemporary art]

Ahmev, founded by Kanchan Sharma and Manish Garg, treats clothing as an expression of identity, prioritizing timeless design, ethical craft, and intentional materials over fleeting trends. Their latest campaign, Road to Rangoon, is their boldest yet. Inspired by the ancient trade routes linking India's eastern region to Burma, it explores memory, movement, and cultural identity through a visual world drawn from the warm tones of Mandalay and the weaving traditions of Assam. Read more about the label on Digital Platform, link in bio. [artisanal, work, made by hand, craft, traditions, handmade, whites, red, spring summer 2026, brand, style, Platform style, Indian design, slow fashion]

Places I Find You In, a collaboration between musicians Frizzell D’Souza and Abdon Mech, is for a memory you can’t quite place. It lives between acoustic folk and soft rock, unhurried and intricate, inducing nostalgia for something or someone you haven’t encountered yet. The collaboration was pure happenstance. Back in 2021, when Frizzell posted a demo on her story, Abdon responded with a video of himself singing another verse. That’s when they decided this was a collaboration they had to do. In 2023, Frizzell visited Abdon for the first time in his hometown in Nagaland while performing at the Hornbill Festival, and instantly fell in love with the hills. Read more on our Digital Platform, link in bio. Photo credit: Image 2 - Kruthika Pillai [music, acoustic folk, soft rock, collaboration, Indian artist, sound, singer, songwriter, musician, instruments, joy, Indian music, production, creation, Platform music, melodies, music genre, global music]

Vaidaangi Sharma grew up in Delhi with a new DVD arriving every fortnight and a certainty, declared to her Nursery teacher, that she would one day become a 'heroine.' The boys in her batch were notorious, the academic environment fiercely competitive, so cinema became her refuge and her resistance. Filmmakers like Shyam Benegal and Hrishikesh Mukherjee shaped her sensibility early, as did a childhood spent with richly written women on screen. The dream of making it to Bombay was always present; what changed over time was her understanding of why. She realized she was not chasing stardom, but the medium itself, and the singular feeling it could evoke in someone sitting alone in the dark. That sensibility runs through her debut short film, Kuchar (The Itch), a 20-minute coming-of-age story about a teenage girl named Chanda and the secrets she keeps within her home. The film is warm, mischievous and quietly devastating in equal measure. Siddhant Khemka's cinematography stays intimate and close, lingering on hands, faces and small domestic textures in a way that feels less like observation and more like inhabitation. Kuchar went on to make history as the first Indian film to win Best International Short Film at the Palm Springs International ShortFest, a distinction it richly deserved. We’re in conversation with Vaidaangi about making her award-winning debut and the upcoming feature, link in bio. [debut short film, writer, director, producer, artist, performance, journey, filmmaking, affecting experience, storytelling, movies, film community, Indian cinema, actor, movie, Platform interview, #kucharthefilm #kuchar #kuchartheitch #NYIFF2026 #newyorkindianfilmfestival]

Houses I Almost Lived In, on view at Latitude 28, gathers five artists who understand this slow, almost bodily colonisation of memory by form. Their works do not merely depict space; they enact the way architecture becomes part of lived consciousness, how it grows on us through touch, repetition, and time, surviving every demolition or departure. Mahen Perera, Pooja Iranna, Raj Jariwala, Samit Das and Shalina Vichitra come together to present works that remind us of the way a particular slant of wall once held the light, the precise weight of a ceiling that pressed against thought, the rhythm of a corridor that taught us how to move through uncertainty. The exhibition is on view until 25th May, 2026. More on Digital Platform, link in bio. Slide 1 - Samit Das, Architecture of Silence: Resurrection of Landscape, 2016- 2024, Mixed Media Slide 2 - Raj Jariwala, Accumulative Structures II, 2026, Archival Ink Pen, Pigment, and Graphite on paper, 19.5 x 25.5 inches Slide 3 - Pooja Iranna, Complex Symphony G, 2026, Oil pigment on two layers of acrylic sheets, 24 x 60 inches Slide 4 - Mahen Perera, Untitled / Time. II, 2026, Discarded Towel, Adhesive, Tea Stain, Emulsion Paint, 7.5 X 9 Inches Slide 5 - Shalina Vichitra, The Grid , High fire glaze on stoneware, 129.5 x 72 inches [art, exhibition, artists, work, architecture, significant work, Platform art, art gallery, Delhi, reimagined, #ContemporaryArt #Art #ArtGallery #ArtHouse #Latitude28]

Christopher Nolan's long-awaited Odyssey adaptation, Spielberg's return to alien territory with Disclosure Day, and a new Spider-Man all land within weeks of each other, making this one of the more stacked summers cinema has seen in years. Catch up now. Link in bio for info on release dates. Slide 1 - Supergirl Slide 2 - Star Wars Slide 3 - The Odyssey Slide 4 - Spider Man Brand New day Slide 5 - Toy Story 5 Slide 6 - Moana Slide 7 - Disclosure Day Slide 8 - BTS from Bandar Slide 9 - Alpha Slide 10 - Shape of Momo [summer movies, listicle, Platform film, titles, storytelling, performances, strong reviews, must watch]

Founded by architect Dhwani Mehta, Leel emerged from a deep engagement with India’s weaving clusters and textile traditions. After years of working with materials and structure in architecture, she found herself completely drawn in by the depth of traditional knowledge she encountered in weaving sheds across the country. Today, Leel works with indigenous materials like Kala cotton and local desi wool from Kutch, creating rugs, upholstery, bedding and table linen rooted in slow craft and collaboration. The label’s textiles evolve through combinations of weave, experiments in colour, conversations that unfold slowly over many visits. Its Abrash Collection, created with Danish visual artist Malene Bach, grew from an ongoing conversation about colour, light, and a shared admiration for the handmade. For Dhwani, craft remains central: ‘The craft matters more than the material, in my view.’ More from her on their creative process, motivations and collaborative efforts with artisans. Link in bio. [Indian handloom, artisan textiles, traditional weaving, rural craft, local artisans, conscious fashion, material integrity, mindful design, heritage craft, timeless textiles, process driven, design India, Indian craftsmanship, traditional techniques, sustainable design, creative community India, design conversations, storytelling, accessible, design for people, Platform design]

Sayani Gupta has always operated on a film set like she owned it. Tracking the light, mentally logging the DOP, building relationships with the art directors and setting boys. For seventeen years, since she first walked onto the FTII campus, making a film was never an ambition she wore lightly; it was, as she puts it, something that completely came over her. But acting is a different life, one that keeps you in motion, in character, in someone else's world. Writing demanded the opposite: stillness, solitude, a particular kind of quiet. It took a fall during Diwali 2023, two weeks locked indoors, and a small blue toy car sitting on her dining table to finally make it happen. Aasmani, her debut as writer, director and producer is what emerged. We’re in conversation with the actor and now Director Sayani Gupta, link in bio. This is an exclusive conversation from our June EZ, grab your free copy on Digital Platform. [debut writer, director, producer, Indian cinema, actor, movie, Platform interview, artist, performance, journey, filmmaking, storytelling, movies, film community,]

🌻 Artist Walkthrough | Thursday May 14 | 5:00pm 🌻 Join the artist, Abhishek Khedekar, for a closer look at his work and its making with valuable insights on his craft and thought-process. The walkthrough will offer audiences an opportunity to engage more deeply with the exhibition. We look forward to seeing you there! Tamsha Photos by Abhishek Khedekar @tendercoconut_ Curated by Bharat Sikka @bharatsikkastudio Supported by @platformagazine Artist Walkthrough | Art Night Thursday 🗓️ May 14 ⏰ 5:00 pm 📍 Dilip Piramal Art Gallery, NCPA @ncpaartgallery @ncpamumbai For queries, please reach out to us on [email protected].

The Pavilion of India at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2026 titled Geographies of Distance: remembering home, is an exhibition exploring memory and belonging in a rapidly transforming world. Presented by the Ministry of Culture, Government of India, in partnership with the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre [NMACC] and Serendipity Arts, the group show features new large-scale artworks by five artists, Alwar Balasubramaniam [Bala], Ranjani Shettar, Sumakshi Singh, Skarma Sonam Tashi, and Asim Waqif, curated by Dr. Amin Jaffer. Here’s a look at the five artists, each from a different part of India, bringing the country’s diverse cultural backgrounds to an international stage. Link in bio. Slide 1 - Alwar Balasubramaniam, Not Just for Us (2026). Pavilion of India at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2026 © Andrea Avezzù Slide 2 - Asim Waqif, Chaal. (c) Joe Habben Slide 3 - Skarma Sonam Tashi, Echoes of Home (2026). Pavilion of India at the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia 2026 © Andrea Avezzù Slide 4 - India Pavilion at the 61st International Art Exhibition, La Biennale di Venezia. (c) Joe Habben Slide 5 - Sumakshi Singh, Permanent Address (c) Joe Habben Slide 6 - L - R Bala, Skarma Sonam Tashi, Dr Amin Jaffer (curator), Sumakshi Singh, Asim Waqif and Ranjani Shettar (c) Joe Habben @aminjaffer_curator @indiainvenice @labiennale @ministryofculturegoi @nmacc.india @serendipityartsfoundation @sumakshisingh @skarma_sonam_tashi @asimwaqif [international art exhibition, La Biennale, ministry of culture, government of Indiam NMACC, serendipity arts, group show, large-scale artworks, art, exhibition, recent works, backwaters, artist, work, Platform art, #ContemporaryArt #Art #ArtGallery #exhibition #artist]