Tanya Maniktala has added another major recognition to her acting career by winning the Best Actress award for her performance in Arifa at the inaugural International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir (IFFJK). Her performance as an estranged daughter returning home to confront unresolved emotions with her dying father emerged as one of the festival’s notable acting achievements.
The Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress honour comes for a performance built around restraint, emotional conflict and the complicated relationship between a father and daughter. Arifa is one of three stories forming the Kashmir anthology Muhabbat Se.
Tanya Maniktala Wins for Arifa at IFFJK
Directed by Rohin Raveendran Nair and written by Durgesh Singh, Arifa premiered at IFFJK on September 8. The film follows a daughter who returns to Kashmir to meet her ailing father after years of distance between them.
Her homecoming brings old memories and unresolved wounds back to the surface. Instead of presenting Kashmir primarily through politics or conflict, the film uses a deeply personal family relationship to explore belonging, forgiveness, regret and the emotional meaning of returning home.
The Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress win therefore highlights a role that depends less on dramatic spectacle and more on understated emotions. Tanya portrays a woman carrying years of pain while seeking answers and acceptance from a father with whom she shares a difficult past.
Tanya Calls Arifa’s Writing Poetic
Speaking about the character, Tanya described Arifa as representing something unspoken and emotionally complicated. She also praised the writing of the film, describing it as poetic.
The character’s emotional journey revolves around questions that have remained unanswered for years. Director Rohin Raveendran Nair has explained that the story deals with silences people carry within relationships and the need to find forgiveness and peace before it becomes too late.
That emotional depth makes the Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress recognition particularly significant. Rather than relying on a conventional dramatic treatment, Arifa places conversations, memories and unspoken feelings at the heart of its storytelling.
Arifa Is Part of Muhabbat Se
Arifa forms part of Muhabbat Se, a three-film anthology centred on Kashmir. The anthology aims to tell stories about the region through human relationships and everyday emotions instead of restricting its identity to familiar narratives surrounding conflict.
The project brings together three filmmakers, with Rohin Raveendran Nair directing Arifa. Gubbara Entertainment is behind the anthology, which is expected to receive a theatrical release in October 2026.
For the makers, the Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress award also gives the anthology an important boost ahead of its wider release. The recognition is especially meaningful because Arifa received the honour at a festival being held in Jammu and Kashmir itself.
IFFJK Puts Spotlight on Regional and Global Cinema
The inaugural International Film Festival of Jammu & Kashmir was held from September 7 to 10, bringing together cinema from India and other countries. The festival showcased 135 films selected from submissions received from more than 80 countries.
Tanya was not the only major winner at the festival. Iranian filmmaker Rasoul Sadr Ameli’s Whisper My Name won Best Film, while Amin Hayayee received the Best Actor (Male) award. Husnora Rozmatova won Best Director for The Song Sustoxin, which also received the Best Debut Film honour.
Against this international competition, the Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress award stands out as an important recognition for both the actor and Arifa.
A Different Performance From Tanya Maniktala
Tanya became widely known for playing Lata Mehra in Mira Nair’s A Suitable Boy. She subsequently appeared in projects including Tooth Pari, Mumbaikar and the action film Kill.
Arifa gives her a noticeably different emotional canvas. The story asks her to communicate years of hurt, longing and unresolved feelings while keeping the performance grounded.
The Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress win could also bring greater attention to the anthology before its theatrical arrival, particularly among audiences interested in character-driven stories from Kashmir.
Arifa Looks Beyond the Familiar Image of Kashmir
One of Arifa’s defining elements is its treatment of Kashmir. The Valley is more than a picturesque setting for the story. It becomes part of the protagonist’s memories, identity and relationship with her family.
Through one daughter’s return to her ancestral home, the film explores how places can carry emotional histories and how returning home can also mean confronting relationships left unresolved.
For Tanya Maniktala, the award marks an important moment in a career that has steadily moved across streaming series, mainstream cinema and independent storytelling. The Tanya Maniktala IFFJK Best Actress recognition for Arifa now adds a festival honour to that journey while putting the spotlight on a deeply personal story of love, loss and reconciliation.
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