Ali Fazal: Plan to own a theatre where we screen indie films

As Sundance winner Girls Will Be Girls has a direct-to-web release, first-time producers Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha on how the industry doesn’t encourage small movies

When starting off as first-time producers three years ago, Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal knew what they were looking for. “An investor always invests in a story,” says Chadha. This search for powerful stories has resulted in Girls Will Be Girls, which dropped on Prime Video earlier this week. Before its India release, it won two awards, including the Audience Award in the World Cinema Dramatic category, at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. With it, the world knew what Chadha did already—that director Shuchi Talati has a way with stories. “Before this, she wrote a heart-warming children’s script. I was ready [to produce] that too. But that didn’t work out, this did,” smiles Chadha.

Girls Will Be Girls, starring Kani Kusruti and Preeti Panigrahi, tells the story of a 16-year-old girl’s complex relationship with her mother. It resonated with Fazal, who was raised in a house run by women. “I was raised by a single mother, and I saw how her relationship with her mother was bittersweet,” he says.

A still from Girls Will Be Girls

Despite the awards and acclaim, the film didn’t release on the big screen, instead premièring on an OTT platform. Had they expected more from this industry as first-time producers? “I expect nothing. We are no one to make demands. We will make our own way,” Chadha says defiantly. The episode has shown Fazal that the industry is not encouraging of indie films. Which is why the actor-producer wants to do his bit to create an ecosystem. “Maybe we can own a theatre, where we screen the indie films we make and like. Why is everyone connected to the big chains? If the machinery was changed, it’d be wonderful. It’s an ambition for the future.”

The couple is now zeroing in on their next production. The one thing they expect from their collaborators is tenacity. “I don’t want lazy people. People make it look like they should be paid to brainstorm; phir humein bhi [script] sunne ke paise milne chahiye,” Chadha laughs, before adding, “I know when people are in it for the stories or for temporary glory. But we are looking for stories that will stand the test of time.”

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