Focus Features and Working Title are partnering for the feature directorial debut from Nida Manzoor, the creator behind the critically acclaimed series We Are Lady Parts.
Manzoor wrote and directed the action-comedy Polite Society, which recently wrapped filming in London. Focus Features will distribute the film domestically and Universal Pictures will distribute it internationally.
Priya Kansara, who will be seen in the second season of Bridgerton, leads a cast as Ria Khan, a schoolgirl, and martial artist-in-training, who dreams of becoming a world-renowned stunt woman. The description for the film reads: “When Ria witnesses her big sister Lena give up on her dreams by dropping out of art school and getting engaged, Ria’s world is shaken. She believes she must save her sister from the shackles of marriage in the only way she knows how, by enlisting the help of her friends and attempting to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of freedom and sisterhood. Polite Society is a merry mashup of sisterly affection, parental disappointment, and bold and bloody action.”
The Umbrella Academy star Ritu Arya will play Kansara’s onscreen sister, Lena, appearing onscreen alongside We are Lady Parts’ Shobu Kapoor and Jeff Mirza, Ella Bruccoleri, Seraphina Beh, Shona Babayemi, Nimra Bucha, Jeff Mirza and Akshay Khanna.
Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner produced with Parkville Pictures’ Olivier Kaempfer. John Pocock as executive producer. Joe Toto and Julia Iglesias oversaw the project for Focus Features. Working Title and Focus most recently worked together on Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho.
Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts was renewed for a second season by Focus’ sister streaming service Peacock. (New episodes will launch on Channel 4 in the U.K.) Manzoor is represented by WME and the U.K.’s Independent Talent Group.
Source: Hollywood
