Polite Society: Ritu Arya, Priya Kansara, & Nida Manzoor Interview Sundance 2023

At this year’s Sundance, one of the standout films was writer-director Nida Manzoor’s feature directorial debut, Polite Society. Blending up genres, Polite Society is an action-packed comedy about two British Pakistani sisters, Ria and Lena Khan, and Ria’s indignant will to fight for her hopes and dreams - and her sister’s - no matter whose butt she has to kick.
Ria (played by first-time leading lady, Priya Kansara) is an aspiring stunt woman, who enlists the help of her older sister, Lena (Ritu Arya), to film her antics for her TH-cam channel. While the headstrong Ria is deadset on breaking into the industry, her sister is struggling with recapturing her creativity after dropping out of art school. It’s around this time that the charming and successful Salim Shah (Akshay Khanna) sets his sights on Lena, and it seems a wedding is inevitable. Unfortunately, Ria is convinced that marriage is the last thing her sister needs, and Salim’s family, especially his mother, Raheela (Nimra Bucha), are evil.
Following Polite Society’s world premiere at Sundance, Manzoor, Kansara, and Arya dropped by the Collider Studio in Park City to discuss their film with Collider’s Steve Weintraub. During their interview, Kansara and Arya share their first impressions of the script, discuss the physical aspects of their roles like scaling buildings and learning kung fu, and Manzoor declares Kansara the next Tom Cruise for performing her own stunts. They discuss the editing process, the many different iterations of the script, how test screenings helped “land improvements,” and building up to that “batshit” third act. They also talk about the nearly-all women cast and crew, forming a sisterhood on set, and what’s next for Manzoor.
#PoliteSociety #RituArya #PriyaKansara #NidaManzoor #Sundance
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[@Setsunako6587]

Polite Society was a TOP-tier action comedy, like Everything Everywhere All at Once, but easier to digest (lol)!
I love imagining Michelle Yeoh, Jaime Lee Curtis, and Stephanie Hsu to watch it at a slumber party together 🥰

[@mufasa37]

I really enjoyed this movie. Had like A bit of Scott Pilgrim meets Kick-Ass.

[@silviob1972]

Love this film....had the pleasure to see this movie at tiff light box in Toronto and got to ask question to Priya Kansara and Nida Manzoor and the end of movie on a live video from England

[@tiffanyshan2321]

Nida Manzoor is my idol

[@rubyslipper980]

What a wonderful interview!❤

[@vokasimid5330]

Nida looked like Camilla Mendes

[@TheSunshinefee]

Beautiful women

[@AFMmovies]

We were lucky to interview Anne Hathaway at SXSW. She's super sweet and very classy. Congrats on your film.