Ali Fazal And Richa Chadha's Production Secrets of a Mountain Serpent Heads To Venice Film Festival
Secrets of a Mountain Serpent, directed by Nidhi Saxena, has welcomed Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal as producers through their banner Pushing Buttons Studios. Nidhi Saxena's debut feature, Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman, premiered at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival to great acclaim. The film, co-produced with (Camera D'or winner, Cannes
fame Vimukhti Jayasundara's) Forest Flower Film, is set to make its world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival. Director Nidhi Saxena is the first Indian woman to win the
Biennale College Fund grant for Secrets of a Mountain Serpent.
Set in a remote Himalayan town during the 1990s, SOMS tells the intimate story of Barkha played by Trimala Adhikari, a schoolteacher whose husband is posted at the border. In a place where most men are gone and days echo with silence, Barkha finds herself drawn to Manik Guho, played by Adil Hussain, a mysterious outsider who disrupts the fragile balance of waiting, restraint, and myth.
Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal, who launched Pushing Buttons Studios to champion authentic, emotionally driven storytelling, said in a joint statement: '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."
Saxena, who also wrote the film, welcomed the new creative partnership, 'This film is about women chose to risk everything and follow their desires, shedding the
burden of moralities imposed upon them by the world. I was looking for kindred collaborators and this feels like a meeting of minds and hearts. It also feels like we no longer need to borrow men's voices to tell our stories. We have our own voice, which is strong, with femininity".
in post-production. It will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August 2025.
Ali, meanwhile, is basking in the success of Anurag Basu's Metro… In Dino, where he plays a pivotal role.
First Published:
July 24, 2025, 18:08 IST
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