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Manisha Koirala is attached to star in “Cowgirls & Indians,” an indie feature that will start shooting in November around Austin, Texas, and nearby locations. The film was formerly titled “Cowboys & Indians.”
Tejal Desai,
a Nicholl Fellow, wrote and is directing the film, expanding on her award-winning short “Cowboys and Hindus.” The story follows a middle-aged Indian woman navigating identity and unlikely friendships against a Texas backdrop, centering on cultural displacement and resilience as South Asian heritage meets American grit.
Kirtana Banskota (“The World’s Happiest Man,” “Premonition”) is producing.
Koirala, one of South Asia’s most popular stars is known forNetflix’s “Heeramandi” and “1942: A Love Story.”
“I have been quoted before on how there are not enough roles written for women of a certain age,” Koirala said. “Though things are gradually changing now, there is still a long way to go. However, ‘Cowgirls & Indians’ was brought to me and after meeting the team, meeting Tejal, and listening to the entire script and his intention on why he wrote it, I knew this story has great potential to cross boundaries while having fun doing so. I’m looking forward to braving the Texas terrains while on horseback drinking my chai.”
Desai added: “‘Cowgirls and Indians’ is a coming-of-age story about a middle-aged Indian woman discovering who she is in the American Southwest. “Manisha Koirala’s performances have always carried an intense realism, vulnerability, and strength – from ‘Dil Se’ to ‘Heeramandi,’ she’s built a career on stillness and expressive eyes that say more about complex emotions,” Desai said. “Asha needs exactly a woman whose whole history lives in her eyes and the strength to carry a story on her shoulders. And beyond the performance itself, Manisha carries a rare gravity – an actress who has weathered real hardship and emerged with more resilience, not less, which is the exact arc Asha travels across this film.”
Banskota said Texas is the place to film right now. “The new incentives, talent staying in-state, and the sheer vastness of everything available here makes filming a lot friendlier for filmmakers,” she said.
Talent agent Zahin Khan represents Koirala.
