Holy crap, we screened the director’s cut of Vidhya’s Guide to the Afterlife for some crew and creative friends and it absolutely rocked.

I took many notes in the dark of the theater that it is now my current task to decode.

Cyphers aside, it was pretty cool to see this thing go from fundraiser to film in under a year.

I have MANY critiques that I am absolutely dying to purge but am trying to refrain from doing so in this newsletter because, simply, what is the point? What is the point of creating a film and then noting it outside of the edit room? What, so I can cover my bases with my newsletter-heads that I know the movie is not perfect, before they have a chance to tell me themselves? OF COURSE IT’S NOT. Who is expecting anyone’s work to be perfect? Why not just stand proud that in 2026 you made a movie?

^ thank you for bearing witness to this train of thought. I include it here not because it’s the best writing but because I think this is a familiar, compulsive loop for a lot of creatives. And it FEELS productive to constantly note yourself. Worrying and critiquing and looking for improvement FEELS like work! But at a certain point, it is actually treating yourself like a machine, rather than someone who creates. It’s letting the current Hollywood system (or whatever you’re a part of) win by saying we only except perfection out the gate unless you are someone famous’s kid, or whatever.

So I’m here to say I saw my movie and I’m proud. And I know so many of you are backers of this film, and I HOPE when you watch it, you can be proud too. Because you made this happen.

More soon,
Rekha