‘The more pushback there is, the more cinema thrives’

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Richa Chadha has her hands full between parental duties and promoting her debut production Girls Will Be Girls. But she gives full marks to her husband Ali Fazal for doing his bit for their five-month-old daughter Junera Ida Fazal. “Since I feed the baby, Ali can’t, he does the burping and the diapers. He’s very good at it … he’s a great partner that way,” she beams.

Although she is still exploring the changes in herself, Richa feels that motherhood has been quite simple so far. She is aware that growing a child also brings challenges. “So far, it’s just about making sure the baby is fed, bathed, etc., but after that to find out what parenting is really all about. It can’t be easy to give birth to parents who are actors,” she said candidly.

Produced by Richa and Ali’s production company Pushing Buttons, directed by debutant director Shuchi Talati, Girls Will Girls is a coming-of-age story of a teenage girl who shares a complicated relationship with her mother, and finds her way. A woman she always puts last. A simple yet poignant story, which won critical acclaim at the Toronto and Sundance International Film Festivals, the film is all set for release in India. Richa says, ‘I want to see unity and compassion develop between me and my daughter like in the film.

Acting always comes first

Talking about work, she says, ‘Acting will always be my first love. Production is very, very difficult. But I think being a producer is a great way to get out there and tell people what you believe. As an actor, unless you use social media and promote widely, people will not get an insight into your mind, point of view and ideology. . I always wanted to stand up for what I believed in. Right now, I am planning to promote for the release.”

She says that both she and her husband are willing to push boundaries when it comes to art and expression. “We were both reading a play script with a travel company, and I was thinking, ‘Can Nanny travel?’ ‘How wonderful it would be to take the baby and travel around India and the world before she starts school!’ We’ve both always lived in flux.”

Big players have an advantage

With the ongoing debate about how big players and producers dominate the screen space, making it difficult for indie films to get theatres, Richa believes the odds are stacked against smaller films in more ways than one, though exhibitors feel it’s a question of supply vs. Audience demand. “The cost of each release is so high that even if it is not a big film that occupies all the theatres, it is difficult to manage the release. Cinemas are like the F&B business, and given today’s economy, ticket prices are daunting for any middle-class person. To increase sales, we need strategy and more screens in India. The death of single screen is a big blow to cinema because big players can afford multiplexes and their rising prices, but small-time players cannot,” he notes.

Richa also praised the efforts of filmmakers like Payal Kapadia, whose All We Imagine as Light tasted success at Cannes and was nominated for a Golden Globe. “It’s going to be exciting, because I think the more pushback there is in other ways, the more cinema will thrive,” she says.

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