Before I had an idea of what I was going to put anyone in, I knew that it had to be a jewel-tone wedding. The thing that connects them all is that they are all jewel tones. Salim’s family is all in pinks, reds, oranges, or yellows. Ria’s family is all in blues and greens, except for Lena who is in her golden moment.

I used that ritual as a way to separate the families by color. In a Nigerian wedding, for example, everyone from the bride’s side wears one color, and everyone from the groom's side wears a different color. I married that knowledge with my understanding of Nigerian weddings. She helped us navigate what people should wear, and, more importantly, how what you wore would tell others at the wedding who you are. We hired a wedding planner as an advisor to guide us through the traditions and rituals. We spoke to Williams about bringing her personal story into her style, dressing a wedding, and creating a different kind of hero for teenage girls. In The Guardian, Kansara called out Williams as “a complete visionary” for crafting costumes that “enhanced the visual effects of the fight scenes.” In addition, Williams’ costumes reflected contemporary London styles in a way that added to the film’s “controlled chaos that blends the color and splendor of Bollywood with sly British satire reminiscent of early Edgar Wright,” according to Eye For Film. Williams’ work on that show won Best Costume Design at the 2022 BAFTA TV Awards. To add just the right spice to the film’s wardrobes, Manzoor reached out to costume designer PC Williams, who had collaborated with the writer-director on her hit TV series We Are Lady Parts. In a colorful adventure that is part comic book, part comedy of manners, Ria suits up to fight and get her sister back. While Ria dreams of becoming a stuntwoman, Lena has set her sights on being an artist, that is until Salim ( Akshay Khanna) and his imperious mother, Raheela ( Nimra Bucha), step in to plan a marriage for Lena. In Nida Manzoor’s Polite Society, Ria ( Priya Kansara) and Lena Khan ( Ritu Arya) are teenage sisters in London getting ready to take on the world.

Hit & Split by Simon Green