U.K. and India-based production company Civic Studios is presenting “Just Like Her Mother,” a series exploring the women’s rights movement through an intergenerational story, at India’s Film Bazaar co-production market. Venice Film Festival winner Ruchika Oberoi (“Island City”) is in talks to direct.
The series follows a daughter’s investigation into her mother’s disappearance, while examining the evolution of women’s rights in India from the 1970s to present day.
Civic Studios, a media company rooted in social impact storytelling, was founded with the mission of creating content that drives change. The company slate includes projects from Gurinder Chadha and Pan Nalin.
“This is a story we’ve developed in-house from the seed of the women’s rights movement in India,” says producer Anushka Shah. “It was one of the reasons for starting Civic Studios – to tell stories of social movements that offer cinematic scope of what change takes.”
Co-writer Roohi Bhatia says the series explores “what it takes to embark on a journey of being and becoming” in a patriarchal world. “While being deeply intimate and personal, we wanted the story to draw the thread to the political,” she notes.
“Inspired by our own lived experiences of family, love, and trauma, we were drawn to how much has changed—and how much remains the same. The intergenerational bond between a mother and daughter became the perfect canvas to explore these complexities, including finding new rhythms to challenge unquestioned norms,” Bhatia added.
The creative team aims to secure production and financing partners at Film Bazaar to move the project into its next phase. With anticipated development of 4-6 months followed by production, the series is eyeing a 2026 release.
“Like all good stories, we would want the characters and emotions of the story to stay with the audience long after their experience of watching the series on screen. The beautiful relationship between mother and daughter that the story weaves its way through, is both gripping and deeply sensitive, showing the changing norms of women and gender through the generations. We’re keen for the audience to take away the beauty of the story, but also the historic moments of the women’s movement in India reflected in the characters and their journeys,” Shah said.
Film Bazaar (Nov. 20-24) is a part of the International Film Festival of India (IFFI, Nov. 20-28) in Goa.
