Bollywood couple Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal have come aboard as producers on Secrets of a Mountain Serpent through their production banner Pushing Button Studios. The movie is set to make its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival, according to Variety.
The film is directed by Nidhi Saxxena, who won Venice's Biennale College Fund grant for the project. Saxena previously helmed Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman, which premiered at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival.
Secrets of a Mountain Serpent is co-produced with Forest Flower Films, the banner of Cannes Camera d'Or winner Vimukthi Jayasundara, reported Variety.
According to the outlet, the movie is set in a remote Himalayan town during the 1990s. The intimate drama follows Barkha (Trimala Adhikari), a school teacher whose husband is stationed at the border.
In an environment where most men are absent and silence permeates daily life, Barkha becomes drawn to Manik Guho (Adil Hussain), a mysterious outsider who disrupts the delicate equilibrium of waiting, restraint and local mythology.
"We were immediately drawn to Nidhi's lyrical vision. This is a story rooted in myth and yet is startlingly relevant today. At PBS, we believe in backing storytellers who take creative risks, and Nidhi has crafted something singular, poetic, and soulful," Chadha and Fazal said as quoted by Variety.
According to Variety, the production has completed filming the movie and is currently in post-production ahead of its premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
Chadha and Fazal's Pushing Buttons Studios has also produced Girls Will Be Girls, directed by Shuchi Talati. It won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival last year.
The movie was directed by Shuchi Talati and starred Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusurti and Kesav Binoy Kiron in the lead roles.
The movie was praised by critics for its innovative take on female teenage sexual awakenings.
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