Polite Society writer-director Nida Manzoor has revealed she was asked to centre the narrative on a white family early in the film’s development.
The action-comedy, which is Manzoor’s feature-length debut, follows Ria (Priya Kansara) as she tries to pull off a heist at her sister Lena’s (Ritu Arya) wedding.
In an exclusive interview with Digital Spy, Manzoor revealed that she overcame obstacles early in the film’s development, which started over a decade ago with the first draft of the script.
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“Early on, when I was trying to get it made, I had people wanting me to make it about a white family rather than a South Asian family,” she said. “I had people wanting to take out the action: you know, kind of bizarre requests.
“I realised I was developing it with the wrong people, where it was like: ‘Can you make it more traumatic?’ They wanted the older sister character to be more in a forced marriage situation. I was like, ‘Stories about South Asians don’t only have to be about trauma and misery.’ [They] can be about joy.
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“I realised early on I was in the wrong space,” she added. “I feel very lucky to have Working Title, Focus Features, and Universal behind the film, who really just empowered me to lean into the genre and the joy. So I feel like I got to make it right in the end, even if it took a while.”
Manzoor, whose previous directorial credits include Doctor Who, added that she suffered her fair share of setbacks during the film’s lengthy lifespan, but her work on sitcom We Are Lady Parts motivated her to complete Polite Society.
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“It went through so many processes of evolution. I got a lot of rejection early on, which kind of knocked my confidence for a while,” she explained. “It wasn’t until I got the chance to make We Are Lady Parts that I found my voice again and what I want to be as a filmmaker.
“It was perfect timing because I learned the skill of what I needed to do to write and to improve Polite Society. When it came around [and] became an option again, I felt like I was able [and] ready to make the film and do it justice,” she added.
Polite Society is released in cinemas on April 28.
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Reporter, Digital Spy George is a freelance writer who specialises in Movies and TV. After graduating with a degree in Film Studies and Journalism from De Montfort University, in which he analysed the early works of Richard Linklater for his dissertation, he wrote for several websites for GRV Media. His film tastes vary from blockbusters like Mission: Impossible and John Wick to international directors such as Paolo Sorrentino and Hirokazu Kore-eda, and has attended both the London and Berlin film festivals.
Isabella is a freelance journalist who has written on young women's issues, entertainment, TV and film, South Asian representation, mental health, dating and so much more. She has bylines in ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Good Housekeeping, Prima, Digital Spy, Women's Health, and Harper's Bazaar, and was named 30 Under 30 by MediaWeek, PPA and We Are The City. She was also shortlisted for Workplace Hero at the Investing In Ethnicity Awards and Hero of the Year at the European Diversity Awards. Follow Isabella on Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
