Actor-producer Richa Chadha says independent films can often struggle to find their audience in theaters in the presence of big-budget blockbusters backed by distribution and promotion channels, but her debut film production “Girls Will Be Girls” Releasing it digitally was not a compromise.
Richa Chadha on the digital release of Girls Will Be Girls
Chaddha, who has backed the acclaimed film with actor-husband Ali Fazal through her banner Pushing Buttons Studios, said one cannot think of shaking up the entire system in their debut film.
Directed by Shuchi Talati, “Girls Will Be Girls” began streaming on Prime Video on December 18.
When asked whether it would have been a wise decision to release the film in theatres, the debutant producer said that his primary goal with the film was to reach as many audiences as possible.
“I want to nip it in the bud. When you tell a story, there are structures like exhibition, distribution, number of screens, promotion and advertising… how big films work… as filmmakers The choices for us, whether to tell the story, make the story accessible and let more people see it, or change the structure.
“You can’t do everything in your first film. You can’t change the structure and tell the story. None of the big films that are hit films have changed the structure. They take the structure and they exploit the structure. We are not interested in changing the structure, we want to tell the story,” Chadha told PTI in an interview.
“Girls Will Be Girls” starring Preeti Panigrahi and Kani Kusruti has won accolades at several international festivals including the Cannes Film Festival, Indian Film Festival of Melbourne and MAMI Mumbai Film Festival 2024.
At the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards, the film received two nominations: a John Cassavetes Award and Kusruti for Best Supporting Actor.
Chadha said, sometimes films change the “structure” but it is not intentional.
Richa on making the film accessible to all
“It (the film) can reach as many people as possible through Amazon Prime, that’s what we wanted, that’s not a compromise by any means. That’s what we wanted, and that’s what we were going to do…
“We are very small people right now. This is our first film, we can make big statements here but the reality is that this was the best move for the film and we have to do justice to the film.” Fazal said that the decision to release a film in theaters or on streamers should be taken keeping in mind the interests of various stakeholders.
And that’s why, he said, he will stand by the collective “wise decision” they made by releasing “Girls Will Be Girls” on Prime Video.
“A lot of hard work has gone into making this film. Not only from our side, but from Shuichi’s side, who is also a producer and another co-producer. You have to think about everybody in terms of finances and everything.” Will have to do.
“This was the best option for us to bring that conversation to the maximum number of people. With all the nominations coming in at the Indie Spirit (Awards), we have received and will continue to receive a lot of love…
He said, “We know there is an audience for this… We know this is a story that audiences are craving right now, not just in India, but around the world.”
What did lead actress Kani Kusruti say?
Set in 1990s Dehradun, “Girls Will Be Girls” follows the journey of a 16-year-old girl, Meera (Panigrahi), whose rebellious awakening intersects with her mother Anila’s (Kusruti) incomplete childhood experience. Is. ,
But, what attracted her to “Girls Will Be Girls”? For Chadha, it was a “brilliant script”.
“It was my first script, the script made me a producer. Shuichi needed a producer and there was no one, so we started from there. It went to Script Lab before it came to us, so the proof of it came out We are happy that this will be our first film.” Talati, he said, noted Fazal’s attention to detail, particularly punctuation in the script.
“The way he wrote it, I thought it was amazing. That was my purchase. Later, it went through endless stages. Since we are actors too it (punctuation) is such a big sign, like a comma in the right place , full stop and colon.”
Upcoming projects of Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal
Fazal has several projects in the pipeline, including “Mirzapur The Film”, Mani Ratnam’s “Thug Life”, Anurag Basu’s “Metro… In Dino” and “Lahore 1947” directed by Rajkumar Santoshi.
The ‘Mirzapur’ star quipped that till a year ago, some producers thought he had left India because of his growing global reach.
“I thought let’s go back to the drawing board and do it. I am very excited about it (‘Mirzapur the film’). I have got a little bun done and I have to cut my hair for ‘Mirzapur’.
Fazal, known for international films like “Victoria & Abdul”, said, “It’s been amazing (working with Ratnam, Basu and Santoshi). It’s like a good check off my list. I’m happy to see that how does this work.” , “Death on the Nile” and “Kandahar”.
Chadha, who welcomed her first child with Fazal in July, said she is ready to act in a comedy film.
She said, “I will announce about comedy soon. I love comedy, it’s my favorite genre.”
“Girls Will Be Girls” is an Indo-French co-production, a collaboration of Pushing Buttons Studios, Blink Digital, Crawling Angel Films and Dolce Vita Films. It also stars Kesav Binoy Kiran and Jitin Gulati.
