EXCLUSIVE: Sayani Gupta will make her U.S. feature film debut in Arya. The Indian star’s credits include Delhi Crime and Axone, and cameras are rolling on her new movie, with principal photography taking place in Duluth, Minnesota.
Directed by Neil Tuli, Arya follows Arya Sinha (Gupta). She is a disciplined piano teacher from a prestigious Indian conservatory, who reluctantly takes an assignment in northern Minnesota, hoping to rescue a struggling band program, as well as fuel her career ambitions back home.
Per the synopsis, as she clashes with her chaotic new environment, Arya is forced to let go of control, confront her hidden insecurities, and embrace a new vision of success.
Gupta’s breakout role was in Shonali Bose’s Margarita with a Straw, portraying a blind Pakistani-Bangladeshi queer student activist. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2014. She also starred in Parched and The Hungry, which also premiered at TIFF.
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The actor was nominated for an International Indian Film Academy award for her role in Hindi-language socio-political drama Article 15, which is currently streaming on Netflix.
Arya is Tuli’s feature directorial debut. He has held strategy roles at both Netflix and Illumination.
The film is also produced under his banner American Haathi, alongside Pallavi & Keertana Sastry (Land of Gold) from Adda G Productions. Gupta is repped by Matt Kniaz at Crimson Media and Suchir Batra with Zero Gravity Management.
Gupta, who also wrote, directed and produced the short film Aasmani, is an exec producer on the indie feature film.