Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal’s Girls Will Be Girls has made history by winning the prestigious John Cassavetes Award at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards.
This marks a major milestone for Indian cinema, as it is the first Indian film to receive this honor. Ali Fazal took to Instagram to share his excitement over the win, posting an emotional message. His caption read: “GIRLS WILL BE GIRLS WINS THE Prestigious JOHN CASEVETTES AWARD at the independent spirits awards @filmindependent !! I think it’s not too shabby a journey – From Winning Sundance to Closing it with the Spirit awards. Here’s just how I was feeling, – I know how hard it was for you @therichachadha to leave our baby girl and travel – I’ll just say ‘L’Oréal.’ And ‘Tuh.'” His words reflected both his joy for the film’s success and his admiration for Richa, who made a difficult choice for their shared dream.
Continuing his message, Ali expressed his pride in the entire team, emphasizing how significant this win is for Indian cinema.
He wrote: “The girls are bringing back home the trophies.. and I just want to say how proud I feel being part of this beautiful journey along with our fellow co-conspirators.. all across the board. Big big moment for INDIA.. and cinema in general here if I may be shameless enough to say so.. from Payal’s All We Imagine to Kiran Rao’s Lapata, from Anuja to Baksho Bondi. ‘All eyes on independent.’ Maybe not today, but one day when we pile up enough good things and when they look back, they might just stop and go ‘Hey, we had ’em all along.'” His heartfelt note highlighted the growing strength of India’s independent film scene.
Premiering on Prime Video India on December 18, 2024, the film has been widely praised as one of the finest coming-of-age stories from India. Produced under Richa and Ali’s Pushing Buttons Studios, its Spirit Awards win, alongside major victors like Anora and A Real Pain, further cements its global impact.