A menopausal woman in a loveless marriage finds a quiet spark with a younger colleague during fleeting elevator rides. As her emotional and sexual buttons are pushed, she must decide how far she is willing to rise.
ZEENAT AND THE MEN WHO GIVE HER PAUSE follows Zeenat Khan, a soft-spoken woman in her 50s navigating the quiet erosion of her identity. Caught in a loveless marriage and facing menopause, she drifts through life feeling invisible - at home, at work, and within herself.
A fleeting elevator encounter with Peter, a kind and younger colleague, begins to stir something unexpected. Their brief exchanges - small talk, shared glances, simple gestures - awaken something Zeenat had long buried: to be seen, to feel, to reclaim her body and desire.
As Zeenat becomes more attuned to her inner world, the distance in her marriage grows starker, and her only child, now in college, becomes emotionally elusive. The discovery of a forgotten vibrator in the office bathroom - humorous, jarring, and strangely liberating - becomes a turning point. She begins to explore pleasure on her own terms, quietly rewriting the rules of her life.
Her small acts of rebellion - skipping a work party, saying no to her husband, wearing her hair differently, lingering in the elevator - begin to grow and accumulate. As her emotional and sexual awakening takes root, so does her ability to make choices that serve her truth, not just her obligations. By the time Peter leaves the picture, their unconsummated connection has left her not heartbroken, but transformed.
Told with restraint, warmth, and a touch of whimsy, ZEENAT AND THE MEN WHO GIVE HER PAUSE is a story of late blooming, of a woman who’s never had an orgasm, learning to arrive fully in her own body and power. Along the way, encounters with the men in her life - her distant husband, her tender son, and an unexpectedly kind colleague - each give her pause in different ways, challenging her to listen more deeply to her own needs. Her final act of dancing with abandon while vacuuming, bathed in her own quiet joy, signals that she’s not starting over; she’s finally starting with herself.
Richa Rudola is an award-winning filmmaker from India whose thought-provoking work explores identity, consciousness, and the afterlife. Her acclaimed films Taaza Khoon (Fresh Blood) and The Seal have screened at more than 45 film festivals worldwide, won over 10 awards, and are featured on Amazon Prime, Alaska Airlines, ShortsTV, and The Future of Film Is Female. Her TV pilot One Rose won Best Hour Drama at the 2020 Nashville Film Festival, with additional recognitions from HollyShorts, Stowe Narrative Lab, ScreenCraft, and Shore Scripts.
Richa’s latest short, Cow Heavy and Floral—inspired by her own motherhood journey—continues a celebrated run across film festivals, advocacy groups, and conferences. In 2024, she co-founded Meals About Motherhood, a social-impact initiative using film and media to inspire honest dialogue about the many facets of motherhood. Drawing from a successful background in risk management, Richa blends analytical precision with emotional storytelling to create cinema that challenges and connects. Her work has been supported by The Future of Film Is Female, New York Stage & Film, and Tasveer. She is committed to authenticity, intellectual curiosity, and telling stories of courage—especially those seen through the transformative lens of motherhood.
BlueCat Screenplay Competition 2026 - Quarter Finalist
Female Eye Film Festival 2025 - Live Pitch Selection
Producer - Lela Meadow-Conner
Producer - Pulkit Datta
Producer - Prerana Thakurdesai
Writer/Director - Richa Rudola
Composer - Raashi Kulkarni
