Manisha Koirala Heads to Texas for Hollywood Indie ‘Cowgirls & Indians’; Filming Set for November

Manisha Koirala is set to make her next international screen appearance with Cowgirls & Indians, an independent feature that will take her into the landscapes of Texas. Written and directed by Tejal Desai, the film is scheduled to begin shooting in and around Austin in November 2026.

The project, previously known as Cowboys & Indians, centers on Asha, a middle-aged Indian woman navigating identity, friendship, and belonging in the American Southwest. Koirala's casting brings an established Indian performer into an independent American production whose story is rooted in the meeting of South Asian heritage and the culture of the Texas landscape.

For Koirala, the project represents another international chapter in a career that has moved comfortably between Indian and international cinema.

Manisha Koirala Takes on Asha

The central character of Cowgirls & Indians is Asha, an Indian woman whose life in the American Southwest becomes the setting for a period of personal discovery.

Director Tejal Desai has described the film as a coming-of-age story about a middle-aged Indian woman discovering who she is while living in the American Southwest. The premise places questions of identity and cultural connection at the heart of the narrative rather than treating the Texas setting merely as a backdrop.

For Koirala, the role also appears to offer something different from the conventional roles often associated with established actresses. In comments reported by Variety India, she spoke about the gradual change in the kinds of roles being written for women as they grow older.

She said that while opportunities are changing, “there is still a long way to go,” and explained that meeting Desai and hearing the complete script helped convince her to take the part.

Her enthusiasm for the project is also reflected in the unusual preparation the role is expected to involve. Koirala referred to traveling through the Texas terrain on horseback while keeping her character's Indian identity close through the simple image of drinking chai.

Why the Texas Setting Matters

The setting is more than a change of scenery. The American Southwest has a strong cinematic identity of its own, traditionally associated with cowboys, open landscapes, and frontier culture. Cowgirls & Indians places an Indian woman inside that environment, creating a story built around the meeting of two distinct cultural worlds.

The earlier short film Cowboys and Hindus, also written and directed by Desai, provides important background to the feature. The short has traveled through the independent film-festival circuit and received recognition at several festivals. FilmFreeway records selections and awards including Best Short at the Indic Film Festival and Best Director at Rock The Shorts Film Festival.

The feature therefore isn't an entirely new concept created from scratch. It represents the expansion of a story and filmmaking idea that Desai has already developed in short-film form.

From Cowboys and Hindus to Cowgirls & Indians

The change in title from Cowboys & Indians to Cowgirls & Indians is also noteworthy.

The current title places women at the center of the film's identity and aligns with the story's focus on Asha. While the earlier short carried the title Cowboys and Hindus, the feature's current name signals a broader cultural framing while retaining the contrast between the American Western setting and the Indian experience.

Publicly available information does not yet reveal the complete feature-film cast or detailed plot. The production is still in its early stages, with filming planned for November. That makes it important to separate what has been announced from assumptions about the finished film.

Tejal Desai's Independent Film Journey

Desai brings an independent filmmaking background to the project.

His publicly available biography identifies him as an award-winning screenwriter and a former Academy Nicholl Fellow. He has written for companies including Disney, Focus Features, and Lifetime, and his screenplay Cowboys and Hindus received recognition through screenwriting competitions.

The short-film version of Cowboys and Hindus subsequently built a festival profile. FilmFreeway records appearances at events including the Austin-based Indie Meme, the Chicago South Asian Film Festival, Tasveer Film Festival, and Urbanworld Film Festival, alongside several award and finalist selections.

That history gives the feature a useful foundation: the filmmaker is taking a story that has already been developed and recognized in the independent circuit and expanding it into a feature led by an internationally recognized actor.

Why Manisha Koirala's Casting Stands Out

Koirala's career makes her particularly suited to a character-driven project of this kind.

She established herself in Indian cinema with films including Saudagar, 1942: A Love Story, Khamoshi: The Musical, Bombay, Dil Se.., Gupt, Company, and Lajja. Her filmography has also extended beyond mainstream Hindi cinema into Nepali and other Indian-language productions.

In recent years, she has increasingly taken on mature and layered characters. Her role as Mallikajaan in Heeramandi introduced her to a newer generation of viewers while allowing her to play a character whose authority was rooted in performance rather than conventional glamour.

Cowgirls & Indians appears to continue that direction, but with a distinctly international setting and an independent-film sensibility.

A Story About Belonging Rather Than Just Cultural Contrast

The most interesting element of the project is its potential to treat cultural identity as something personal rather than simply visual.

Asha's journey places an Indian woman in an environment that carries its own traditions and mythology. That creates room for the film to explore what happens when familiar ideas of home, identity, and community are encountered in a very different cultural landscape.

Desai has specifically described the story as being about two women from different cultures discovering more about themselves, with the American Southwest providing the landscape for that journey.

That gives the film a broader emotional foundation than a simple India-meets-America premise.

What We Know About the Production

The film is being produced by Kirtana Banskota, with filming scheduled to begin around Austin, Texas, in November.

At present, the production has not publicly revealed a theatrical release date, complete cast announcement, or detailed promotional campaign. Those details should therefore not be treated as confirmed until formally announced.

What is confirmed is the project's central casting, its writer-director, its Texas shooting plan, and the story's focus on Asha.

The Celebrity Hour Take

Cowgirls & Indians is an interesting next step for Manisha Koirala because it doesn't appear to be built around spectacle or a conventional star vehicle. Instead, the film places her at the center of a personal story set in an unfamiliar cultural environment.

That choice could be particularly valuable at this stage of her career. Koirala has already established herself through mainstream Indian cinema; an independent international project allows her to explore a different filmmaking environment while playing a woman whose age and life experience are integral to the story.

The project is equally significant for Tejal Desai. His earlier short-film work provides a foundation, while Koirala's involvement gives the feature a performer capable of carrying a quieter, character-led narrative.

The image of an Indian woman on horseback in Texas, with her cultural identity represented through something as familiar as chai, captures the film's central idea neatly: a story about finding one's place without having to leave one's identity behind.

As production approaches, the next meaningful developments will be the full cast, additional production details, and the eventual release plan.

Sources & Verification

This report was prepared by cross-checking current reporting on Manisha Koirala's casting and the November 2026 Texas shoot with publicly available information about Tejal Desai, the earlier short film Cowboys and Hindus, its festival history, and Desai's filmmaking background. The article does not treat unannounced casting, release dates, or plot details as confirmed.