Brought to fruition by the brilliant Nida Manzoor, We Are Lady Parts is a groundbreaking new Peacock Original that has more than earned a second season. Following the highs and lows of a local U.K. Muslim female punk band, the show sees what repercussions and rewards lie in wait when the girls unceremoniously handpick a geeky Ph.D. student as their new lead guitarist.
Anchored by Anjana Vasan’s remarkable performance as the shy, marriage hungry Amina Hussein, the girl with a knack for guitar but a deep-seated fear for the spotlight, Manzoor’s deeply personal descent into the music scene reflects her own grappling with self-acceptance. “Growing up, I never really saw someone like me writing and directing”, says Manzoor, “or it was rare, and I struggled with gaining that confidence.” Already a veteran of the TV and film world with entries like Polite Society and Doctor Who, the filmmaker found that by taking the reins of her very own show, she was able to conjure up a story that was as cathartic as it was inspiring. Through writing a path forward for her lead character, she was able to find a light at the end of the tunnel for herself as well. “I think Amina’s journey in season one of trying to find her voice, and having that confidence of taking up space and owning who you are, is definitely something that resonated with me and was something I really wanted to pull into the show. Just having the courage to say what you want to say in a world that doesn’t often seem to have a place for you or doesn’t want to listen to you.”
It’s no mistake that punk was the music of choice for We Are Lady Parts. A longtime musician and songwriter herself, along with her brother and sister, Manzoor purposely chose the upbeat, fast-paced, roof-shattering screams of punk rock in lieu of something more sullen or stereotypically serious. “I think there’s a real kind of tongue-in-cheek satirical bite to punk music which I really enjoy,” explains Manzoor. “Just to show the kind of anarchic, joyful, silly, playful side of Muslim women that we don’t often get to see.” In an industry where Muslim women are often painted with one very broad brushstroke, this showrunner seeks to use proper representation as a throughline in the series, hoping to help shed light on the reality of how modern-day Muslim women live their lives. “One of the key reasons I wanted to write the show was to push back against this idea that Muslims are a monolith, that there’s only one way of being. That’s why I was really interested in making a gang show, an ensemble piece, so I could demonstrate that they have different points of view, and very explicitly show that there’s so many different ways of being a Muslim woman.”
Of course, at the end of the day, director Manzoor wants this to be a jubilant endeavor, both for herself and her girl gang ensemble. When asked which song she’s written for the show that gets stuck in her head the most, she laughs, “Probably ‘I Have Voldemort Under My Head Scarf.’ I think that’s just so fun to sing, and just the shouting of ‘He’s alive! He’s alive!’”
Top Image: TILL IMAGE FROM WE ARE LADY PARTS COURTESY OF SAIMA KHALID/PEACOCK/NBC
