Leena has Geena for her kicka** international cowgirl film
Radhika Bhirani
In 2016, a film blogger called Leena Yadav’s Parched a “tribute to one of the most discussed climaxes in cinematic history: Hollywood’s Thelma and Louise, a 1991 milestone”. Three years later, the filmmaker is gearing up to direct Thelma and Louise actor Geena Davis, an Oscar winner, in her maiden international film Cowgirl’s Last Ride.
“I remember Parched was called at Palm Springs International Film Festival, and there was this article drawing a parallel to Thelma and Louise... When I met Geena, I told her that. And I also ended up working with Thom Noble, the editor of Thelma and Louise, on Rajma Chawal. So, it’s like the universe conspired,” Leena says. Talking about the film, she says, “It is about this cowgirl who goes on the last ride in a beautiful way...
I fell in love with it because of the cowgirl character and her beautiful, complicated relationship with her son.” The filmmaker says it was always her ambition to make a kicka** cowboy film. “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly were the kind of films I watched in my childhood. I also enjoy a lot of country music. So I always wanted to make a cowboy film, and then I was reading this cowgirl film, and I was like, ‘You know what, forget about the cowboy, let me do the cowgirl first’,” she says. Leena hopes the project will take off by midnext year. She is still on the lookout for an actor to play Geena’s onscreen son. The shooting locations will be locked once the final cast is in place.