1497 Wraps Features Lab with Ritesh Batra, Boots Riley and More
1497, the nonprofit dedicated to boosting South Asian film and TV storytellers, has wrapped its fifth annual Features Lab.
The five-day Malibu retreat presented an impressive slate of mentors, including Ritesh Batra (“The Lunchbox,” “Our Souls at Night”), Nida Manzoor (“We Are Lady Parts,” “Polite Society”), Shuchi Talati (“Girls Will Be Girls”), Danny Alexander (Independent Artist Group), Suchir Batra (Zero Gravity Management), Nishika Kumble (Extracurricular), Raj Raghavan (ColorCreative), Urooj Sharif (Paramount), and Ameet Shukla (One Community), plus returning 1497 alumni Fatimah Asghar, Jaclyn Backhaus, and Jhanvi Motla.
Mallika Dhaliwal, Mahnoor Euceph, and Armaan Uplekar were the 2025 mentees. Per 1497, they spent the retreat further developing their original feature screenplays and participated in group sessions, one-on-one meetings, and roundtables.
The retreat’s highlights included fireside chats with filmmaker Boots Riley (“Sorry to Bother You,” “I’m a Virgo”) and David Levine, chief content officer of Anonymous Content and former co-head of drama at HBO. The always-frank Riley joined for a candid conversation about the politics of art. Levine, meanwhile, gave participants an inside look at the changes in storytelling and within the industry in recent years.
The week also featured a hands-on workshop with Adrienne Weiss, best known as a directing and storytelling coach.
This year’s 1497 Features Lab was supported by ShivHans Pictures, which is also committed to uplifting underrepresented voices and nurturing new perspectives in storytelling. Founder Shivani Rawat said, “I am honored to support 1497 to foster the South Asian talent who will create the stories of tomorrow for a more inclusive world of film and television.”
Since launching in 2020, 1497 has become a cornerstone of the South Asian creative movement in Hollywood. The organization is an official partner of the Sundance Film Festival, where it has hosted the 1497 South Asian Lodge since 2023. Past 1497 mentors include Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Gurinder Chadha, Zoya Akhtar, Nisha Ganatra, and Aneesh Chaganty, with industry guests including Tony Gilroy, Taika Waititi, Michelle Satter, Rajiv Menon, Rupi Kaur, Tan France, Poorna Jagarnathan, Guneet Monga, and others.
“Five years in, this Lab has become the kind of space South Asian filmmakers have never truly had before,” said co-founders Adeel Ahmed, Lipica Shah, and Kamran Khan. “Our work isn’t just focused on representation and authenticity — it’s also about access. It’s about building creative and institutional infrastructure behind the screen so storytellers in our community can thrive long after the Lab ends. Culture change doesn’t only happen through who we see on screen; it’s also through who gets to craft those stories.”
Past 1497 alumni have gone on to staff writers’ rooms, secure development deals, gain festival access and acceptance and entry to labs including Sundance, and have their projects optioned by leading studios.
