Writer, director, and overall badass Nida Manzoor, the creator of the critically acclaimed and Indie Spirit award nominated We Are Lady Parts, is making the move to the big screen with her feature directorial debut Polite Society at Focus Features and Working Title.
The film recently wrapped production in London and will star a cast that is filled with Brown Asian joy including Priya Kansara (Bridgerton, Half Bad), Ritu Arya (Red Notice, The Umbrella Academy), Shobu Kapoor (We are Lady Parts), Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife), Seraphina Beh (Top Boy), Shona Babayemi, Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), Jeff Mirza (We Are Lady Parts), and Akshay Khanna (Chloe).
Polite Society is an action comedy described as a “merry mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold and bloody action”. Set in London, it follows Ria Khan, a bolshy school girl and martial artist-in-training who dreams of becoming a world renowned stunt woman. 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 mash up of sisterly affection, parental disappointment and bold and bloody action.
Focus’s president of production and acquisitions Kiska Higgs said, “Nida Manzoor’s fierce and funny vision of West London ‘polite society’ brilliantly brings so many of our favorite things to screen: Girls behaving badly, women behaving worse, teaming up with your best mates to possibly ruin your sister’s life and, of course, kung fu.”
Polite Society is produced by Working Title’s Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner and Parkville Pictures’ Olivier Kaempfer, with John Pocock as executive producer. Manzoor will also reunite with We Are Lady Parts (which recently got picked up for a second season at Peacock) collaborators including production designer Simon Walker, costume designer PC Williams, make up & hair designer Claire Carter, editor Robbie Morrison, and casting director Aisha Bywaters. Focus Features will distribute the film domestically and Universal Pictures will distribute internationally. Joe Toto and Julia Iglesias oversaw the project for Focus Features.
Manzoor is represented by WME and Independent Talent Group. Kansara is represented by IAG Talent. Arya is represented by Grandview, Conway van Gelder Grant, ICM and Brecheen Feldman Breimer Silver Thompson. Kapoor is represented by Identity Agency Group. Bruccoleri is represented by Curtis Brown Group. Beh is represented by Greene & Associates Talent Agency and Insight Management & Production. Babayemi is represented by United Agents. Bucha is represented by International Artists Management. Mirza is represented by Simon & How Associates. Khanna is represented by Independent Talent Group.
