Priya Kansara stars as Ria Khan in director Nida Manzoor’s POLITE SOCIETY, a Focus Features release.
Credit: Parisa Taghizadeh / © 2023 FOCUS FEATURES LLC.
POLITE SOCIETY follows martial artist-in-training Ria Khan, who believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting the help of her friends, Ria attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.
Featuring a cast led by and introducing Priya Kansara (Bridgerton, Half Bad), it also stars Ritu Arya (Red Notice, The Umbrella Academy), Nimra Bucha (Ms. Marvel), Shobu Kapoor (We Are Lady Parts), Ella Bruccoleri (Call the Midwife), Seraphina Beh (Top Boy), Shona Babayemi, Jeff Mirza (We Are Lady Parts), and Akshay Khanna (Chloe).
Describing the film, Manzoor said, “At the beginning of the story, you see two sisters who have the best friendship you could imagine, and over the course of the film that friendship is really pulled apart after Lena gives up on her dreams to become an artist and decides to get married. And so Ria tries to break up her sister’s semi-arranged marriage by performing an elaborate heist and getting into a crazy kung-fu fight!”
Adding, “But while it’s an over-the-top comedy, it really focuses on sisterhood and friendship because we don’t often get to see that, especially not in a film with action and dance numbers. It was a chance for me to mix all the films I grew up on – Jackie Chan movies, Bollywood movies, The Matrix, and mash it into a wild film about sisterhood which has been so exciting.”
Focus Features will release the film in theaters on April 28th and we can’t wait.
Check out the trailer, and then check out these shots from the Sundance premiere!
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Ritu Arya attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Ritu Arya gives an interview during the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Priya Kansara attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Priya Kansara attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Writer and Director Nida Manzoor attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: (L-R) Ritu Arya, Writer and Director Nida Manzoor, and Priya Kansara attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: (L-R) Ritu Arya, Writer and Director Nida Manzoor, and Priya Kansara attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: (L-R) Ritu Arya, Writer and Director Nida Manzoor, Priya Kansara, and Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer John Nein attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: (L-R) John Pocock, Ashley Connor, Ritu Arya, Nida Manzoor, Priya Kansara, Sundance Film Festival Senior Programmer John Nein, Thea Paulett, Angela Moneke, Cecilia Frugiuele, and Olivier Kaempfer attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Director of Photography Ashley Connor (L) and Writer and Director Nida Manzoor attend the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
PARK CITY, UTAH – JANUARY 20: Ritu Arya attends the 2023 Sundance Film Festival “Polite Society” Premiere at The Ray Theatre on January 20, 2023 in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Mat Hayward/Getty Images for Focus Features)
