Forge ahead with confidence

Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha

A win is always a confidence-booster. It becomes all the more significant when it comes early on in one's journey. That has been exactly the case with Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal. The double win of their maiden production, Girls Will Be Girls, at the Sundance Film Festival 2024 has reaffirmed the actors-turned-producers' faith in their choice of stories. Encouraged by the recognition, the duo is set to launch their slate for 2024 - it includes a comedy film, a drama, a thriller and a documentary.

A still from the film

Chadha, who founded Pushing Buttons Studios with business partner-husband Fazal in 2021, shares that they have expedited their next few projects. "With the success and reception of Girls Will Be Girls at Sundance, we believe that the bar is set high for us. We hope to keep introducing unique stories and take Indian narratives to the global audience. We are lining up projects that are diverse, and want to work with creators who are passionate about cinema," she says.

Starring Kani Kusruti and Preeti Panigrahi, Girls Will Be Girls explores a 16-year-old girl's complex relationship with her mother. Shuchi Talati's directorial venture won the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic Entry category, with Panigrahi bagging the Special Jury Award. It has set the tone for Chadha and Fazal's forthcoming projects where they don't want to be restricted to a specific genre; instead, they want to seek out meaningful stories. Chadha asserts, "Quality content is above all - this is the motto we start with. We have the approach of being genre-agnostic. As first-time producers, we don't want to be limited and want to try our hand at different things that speak to us."