Richa Meena

Some Lesser Known Facts About Reecha Meena

• Richa Meena is an Indian actress, model, and director. In 2022, she came into the limelight after appearing in the Oscar-nominated Gujarati film Chhello Show (Last Film Show) in which she played the lead role of Samay’s mother.

• She belongs to the Meena tribal community of Rajasthan. ^[3]Forward Press

• According to Richa, she was fascinated by arts since childhood and used to participate in various cultural functions at her school.

• Richa, while she was pursuing her higher secondary education, joined a theatre workshop to learn the nuances of acting. In an interview, Richa talked about her career in acting and said,
  

  Since childhood, I knew that this the field I want to make a career out of. It is like you are having fun and everyone around you is celebrating that. It gave me a sense of freedom because I found myself. My survival mantra here was that whatever work comes your way say yes to it.”

• In 2012, Richa was spotted by a National Geographic channel filmmaker while she was performing in a theatrical production. Later, she bagged the role of Mumtaz Mahal in the documentary The Secrets of the Taj Mahal.

  

• Richa Meena, in 2012, shifted to Mumbai from Jaipur to pursue a career in films. In 2014, she made her Bollywood debut with the film Red Gold in which she played the role of Anjali.

• In 2016, Richa made her television debut with the &TV anthology television series Darr Sabko Lagta Hai.

• In 2017, she worked in the Hindi film Running Shaadi in which she played the role of Neha Sinha. In the same year, she appeared in the film Daddy opposite Arjun Rampal in which she played the role of Geeta Gawali.

  

• In 2019, Richa worked in the Yash Raj Film Mardaani 2 opposite Rani Mukerji in which she played the role of Sunanda. According to Richa, working in the Yash Raj film productions was one of her dreams. In an interview, Richa talked about this and said,
  

  I have grown up watching her. I lived in the Yash Raj lane for two years and always thought I would someday enter this building. I was so happy that I cannot explain it. It was a feeling that motivated me to dream more. Sharing screen space with a seasoned actress was nothing but a great learning experience for me.”

• In 2019, she appeared in the short film Stronger in which she played the role of Sam.

• In 2020, Richa co-directed and acted in a Rajasthani short film Ghumantu – The Wanderer in which she played the role of Meera.

  

• In 2021, she was featured in the role of Ba in the film The Chhello Show. The film was theatrically released in India on 14 October 2022. The film won several accolades at Valladolid International Film Festival, Milwaukee Film Festival, and Mill Valley Film Festival.

  

• After the Film Federation of India (FFI) nominated Richa Meena’s starrer Gujarati film, Chello Show (2022), as India’s official entry to the Oscars for the Best International Feature Film category in September 2022, the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) levied a series of allegations against the producers of the film. According to FWICE, not only is the film of French origin as it was produced by a Paris-based film studio named Orange Studio, but it is also a copy of the Oscar-winning Italian movie titled Cinema Paradiso, which was released in 1988. Further, in an interview with a media house, director Pan Nalin talked about the film and revealed that soon after the film was nominated for the 95th Academy Awards, the team was threatened with warnings that they will face consequences if they don’t pull out of the Oscars. Pan Nalin said,
  

  Oscars mein se film nikaal, nahi toh achcha nahin hoga’. Instead of celebrating and campaigning in the US, we were busy fighting this [vitriol] for three to four weeks.” ^[4]India Today

• In an interview, Richa Meena talked about the film Chhello Show and said that she underwent four auditions to bag a lead role in the Gujarati film.

• According to Reecha, she was unaware of who Pan Nalin, director of the film Chhello show, was until she auditioned for the film. In an interview, she talked about this and said she watched one of Pan Nalin’s directed films, The Angry Indian Goddess, to analyse his work. Reecha said,
  

   There were four rounds of auditions and that’s how I was chosen to play this role. I didn’t know the director Pan Nalin. I had watched one of his films, Angry Indian Goddesses and that’s how I figured out about his work and I loved that. There are some children in the film who are not actors, so we did a few workshops. We shot in Gujarat for three months and there was complete freedom to work.”

• In an interview, Richa said that she wanted to work with Irrfan Khan. She said,
  

  I have always wanted to work with Irrfan Khan but as luck would have it he is no longer with us.”

• Richa Meena was featured in many TV commercials like Saffola Gold, State Bank of India, and Hindustan Times. In 2019, she was also featured in the advertisement for Uttarakhand tourism.

  

• She is a cat lover and has a pet cat named Mitsy. She often posts pictures of his pet cat Mitsy on various social media.