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 Forest Flower Films (Camera D’or winner, Cannes fame Vimukhti Jayasundara’s production house), 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”.
Secrets of a Mountain Serpent has recently completed principal photography and is currently in post-production. It will have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in August 2025.
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