Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal's 'Girls Will Be Girls' to compete in MAMI's South Asian category

Richa Chadha with Ali Fazal

After touring around the world, Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal's debut production, Girls Will Be Girls, has finally come home to India, the audience "we made the film for." The film will have its India première at the Mumbai Academy of the Moving Image (MAMI) film festival. Directed by Shuchi Talati, the movie has already garnered significant acclaim after premières in the US, UK, and France. It has won two awards at the renowned Sundance Film Festival - the Audience Award in the World Dramatic Entry category and the Special Jury Award for lead actor Preeti Panigrahi's performance.

A still from Girls Will Be Girls

Girls Will Be Girls revolves around the coming-of-age of a young girl, Mira. Speaking about this milestone, Chadha shared, "After all the love and recognition we've received internationally, it feels incredibly special to bring the film home. It has been on a winning spree at Biarittz, IFFLA [Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles], and Jakarta World competitions, and it's currently running in the US/UK in cinemas."

Sandhya Suri's Santosh; (right) Rima Das' Village Rockstars 2

Stating the film was made with "a lot of heart and honesty," Talati hopes that the film leaves a lasting impact on people's minds. "It's been incredible to see it resonate with audiences around the world. But this première is special because this is the audience we made the film for - the Indian audience. I hope that the themes of identity, womanhood, and empowerment resonate deeply here. I'm so grateful to Richa and Ali for trusting me with this project and for their unwavering support."

The film, starring Kani Kusruti, Panigrahi, and Kesav Benoy Kiron, will compete in the South Asian competition at the MAMI. The competition, which is the highlight of the festival, will include 11 feature films. The list also includes Arun Bhattarai's Agent of Happiness, Kiss Wagon by Midhun Murali, Lawrence Valin's Little Jaffna, Anirban Dutta and Anupama Srinivasan's Nocturnes, Deepak Rauniyar's Pooja Sir, Amit Dutta's Rhythm of a Flower, Sandhya Suri's Santosh, Shambhala by Min Bahadur Bham, Raam Reddy's The Fable, and Village Rockstars 2 by Rima Das.