New Delhi: Tom Alter’s final film, Dial 1975, is releasing after nearly a decade. Originally scheduled to release in 2016, the film is set during the 1975 Emergency and stars Kay Kay Menon, Kirti Kulhari and Pravesh Rana.
The late actor’s son Jamie Alter, who often shares stories about his father’s life and films in fluent Hindi, described the project as one his father was particularly excited about. After years of playing similar roles, he said, his father Tom embraced the chance to do something fun and different.
“In 2023, when I was doing work with KK Menon, he was also saddened that why the film was not releasing,” Jamie recalled. “And I’m very keen to watch the film that my father was most interested in.”
Ek film. Ek lamba intezaar. Aur aakhirkaar release.
Mere pitaji Tom Alter ki final film 'Dial 1975' kal release ho rahi hai. #Dial1975 pic.twitter.com/bulsdZPRTe
— Jamie Alter 🇮🇳 (@alter_jamie) August 20, 2026
The film, originally titled San ’75, is directed by Navneet Behal and Vibhu Kashyap. It explores the extraordinary lengths people will go to when their freedom is taken away. As communication is restricted across the country, India’s first wireless phone becomes a symbol of hope as well as a catalyst for chaos. It soon becomes the most coveted object in the country, with a deadly, high-stakes scramble among different factions determined to possess it.
The film’s release was repeatedly delayed for various reasons, including issues with the censor board and difficulties finding the money and space for a theatrical release.
Dial 1975 is scheduled to stream for free exclusively on Waves OTT on 21 August.
Also Read: Tom Alter’s grip on Urdu, Hindi often surprised people. But this ‘infuriated’ the actor
Who was Tom Alter?
Born to American missionary parents, Tom Alter had a career spanning more than five decades and over 100 films across Hindi, English and regional cinema, often playing the villainous colonial ruler or other foreign characters.
His early films included Charas (1976), Saheb Bahadur (1977) and Shatranj Ke Khilari (1977), and he went on to work with filmmakers such as Satyajit Ray, Shyam Benegal, Mahesh Bhatt and Richard Attenborough. Some of his other notable films include Kranti (1981), Gandhi (1982), Parinda (1989), Aashiqui (1990), Sardar (1994), Veer-Zaara (2004) and Rang Rasiya (2014).
Beyond mainstream Hindi cinema, Alter worked extensively in regional films and independent cinema, appearing in productions in Bengali, Malayalam, Marathi, Assamese and other languages. He continued acting well into the 2010s, with films such as M Cream and Sargoshiyan among his later works. He died in 2017.
(Edited by Asavari Singh)