Payal Kapadia’s ‘All We Imagine As Light’ Wins Best Film At 2025 Asian Film Awards, Shahana Goswami Wins Best Actress For ‘Santosh’

March 18, 2025: Payal Kapadia achieved a significant milestone at the 2025 Asian Film Awards, where her film All We Imagine As Light took home the prestigious Best Film award. The ceremony took place on Sunday at the Xiqu Centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon Cultural District, celebrating the best of Asian cinema.

The film was up against strong contenders like Black Dog (China), Exhuma (South Korea), Teki Cometh (Japan), and Twilight of the Warriors: Walled In (Hong Kong). Expressing her gratitude from the stage, Kapadia thanked her lead actors, acknowledging their immense contribution to the film’s success. “Thank you so much to my lead actors – three incredible artists and human beings. They are the ones who made this film what it is,” she said, adding that the journey had come full circle in Hong Kong, a city that had meant a lot to her, especially after watching films from there over the years.

All We Imagine As Light features a stellar cast including Kani Kusruti, Divya Prabha, Chhaya Kadam, Anand Sami, and Hridhu Haroon. The film tells the poignant story of Prabha, a troubled nurse who unexpectedly receives a gift from her estranged husband, and Anu, her young roommate seeking intimacy with her boyfriend. The two women’s journey to a beach town forces them to confront their emotions and desires. The film is currently available for streaming on Disney+ Hotstar.

In other notable achievements at the 2025 Asian Film Awards, Shahana Goswami won the Best Actress award for her role in Santosh, directed by Sandhya Suri, a first-time filmmaker. Suri also won the Best New Director award for her powerful directorial debut. Goswami expressed her gratitude during her speech, acknowledging her tendency to be under-confident but feeling thankful for the recognition.

Santosh follows Shahana’s character, a young Hindu widow who inherits her husband’s job as a police constable through a government scheme. She becomes entangled in institutional corruption while working with a rough-edged detective to solve a brutal murder case involving a teenage Dalit girl. The film is a co-production between the United Kingdom, India, Germany, and France.

The ceremony highlighted the immense talent across the Asian film industry and marked a milestone for both Kapadia and Goswami, whose work continues to push boundaries in global cinema.