made a triumphant return with a daring, sublime , which premiered May 30 on . is a true breath of fresh air with its incisive humor and observations about the power of representation in art. It centers on five members of an all-female Muslim punk-rock band as they navigate their careers against all odds.
The show is created, written, and helmed by Nida Manzoor, who made her directorial feature-film debut with last year’s . Manzoor is clearly determined to tell noteworthy, grounded South Asian stories—many of which stem from her experiences in the film and TV industry—with her work. spoke to Manzoor about her inspirations for season two, using genres to subvert expectations, and whether she’s down to continue the show.
Yeah, I didn’t know when I was making season one that I would have a season two. At the time, my thought was if this was going to be it, let’s just go out with a bang. When we did get greenlit again, I had to step away for a bit to go and make a film.
I was lucky because I got to come back with some fresh ideas, whereas before I was nervous if I would even have any ideas. As soon as I sat down at my desk, I was brimming with them. It felt like I had a toolbox ready to go when it came to these characters and the world we had created.
I mainly wanted to challenge each of them and go deeper with some others, not just Amina and Saira. I also love responding to audiences and seeing what they think. So there are some storylines where I was riffing off what.