Secrets of a Mountain Serpent: Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha join as producers, set to premiere at Venice Film Festival
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Bollywood actors and producers Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal have come on board as producers for Secrets of a Mountain Serpent, which is set to make its world premiere at the 2025 Venice Film Festival.
According to a report in Variety, the film is directed by Nidhi Saxxena, who received the prestigious Biennale College Fund grant from Venice for this project.
Saxxena previously directed Sad Letters of an Imaginary Woman, which premiered at the 2024 Busan International Film Festival.
Chadha and Fazal are backing the project under their production banner, Pushing Buttons Studios. The film is co-produced with Forest Flower Films, the company founded by Vimukthi Jayasundara, a Cannes Camera d'Or winner.
Set in a remote Himalayan town during the 1990s, Secrets of a Mountain Serpent tells the story of Barkha (played by Trimala Adhikari), a school teacher whose husband is posted at the border. In a place where silence dominates and the absence of men shapes daily life, Barkha finds herself increasingly intrigued by Manik Guho (Adil Hussain), a mysterious newcomer who unsettles the fragile balance shaped by waiting, restraint, and local myths.
“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 told Variety.
According to the report, the film has wrapped shooting and is currently in post-production ahead of its Venice debut.
Previously, Chadha and Fazal’s Pushing Buttons Studios produced Girls Will Be Girls, directed by Shuchi Talati. The film, starring Preeti Panigrahi, Kani Kusurti, and Kesav Binoy Kiron, won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival and received critical acclaim for its bold and nuanced portrayal of female teenage sexuality.
