Skip to main content

Dukhtar (Daughter) - film review

Had an opportunity to go see the US premiere of a Pakistani film (Hindi with English Subtitles) at the Castro theater in the Castro neighborhood of San Francisco. 

Film is titled Dukhtar (urdu for daughter) and is about a rescue organized by a mother who cannot foresee being a silent part of a criminal undertaking where her underage daughter would be wed in an arranged marriage to a local warlord.

The Castro district (so labeled to remember a one time Mexican Governer of Alta CA)  as it is called is a colorful community with a lot of non-straight individuals calling it home.  Wonderfully located on a hill slope rising in the middle of the 50 sq. mile city limits, I was also able to do a short hike up said hill (twin peaks) which I shall write about in another blog.

The theater almost a 100 years old is reminiscent of the old days of movie watching.  It has still retained some of its patina, glazed tile street foyer
Castro Entry


and old carpeting as well as the fixtures in the men's toilets or so it seemed.  All in all a gay atmosphere in and around the building and I truly mean it.


The movie is a directorial debut for a US based woman director called Afia Nathaniel who stayed for some Q and A after the screening.  It was refreshing to see her tackle a delicate subject such as child brides and terrorism with a finesse that I have seen in India's great directors like Nihalani or Gulzaar.

A sciene and technology student I suspect Afia is an accidental movie director but the pragmatic approach to story telling shows.  Shot with some quality cameras on the Karakoram Highway and surrounds including some location photography in mountain villages, the chase and the love story unwind hand in hand...a good watch.


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Of Jims and Johns

Here is another essay on the subject of first names. As in birth names. Or names provided to an offspring at birth. While the developed world tends to shy away from the exotic like Refrigerator or Coca Cola for their new production there is a plethora of Jims and Johns and Bobs or Robs. Speaking of which I do not think there is a categoric decision point at the time of birth if a child will be hereafter called as Bob. I mean have not yet met a toddler called Bob or Rob for that matter. At some point though the parental instinct to mouth out multiple syllables runs out and they switch from calling the crawler Robert to simply Robbie to Rob. Now speaking of - it is strange that the name sounds like something you would not want Rob to do - i.e. Rob anyone. Then why call someone that? After all Rob Peter to Pay Paul is not exactly a maxim to live a young life? Is it? Perhaps Peter or Paul might want to have a say in it? Then there is this matter of going to the John. Why degrad...
2 comments
Read more

But What If We're Wrong?

I attempted to read this book by author Chuck Klosterman backward to forward but it started hurting my brain so I decided to stop and do it like any other publication in the English language.  Start from page 1 and move to the right. Witty, caustic and thought provoking this is a book you want to read if you believe that the status quo might, just might be wrong. At times bordering on being contrarian about most things around us it tries to zero in on the notion of what makes anything believable and certain in our minds.  The fact that there is a fact itself is ironic.  Something analogous to the idea that you can never predict the future because there is no future. Many books and movies have tried to play on this concept - best that I recollect (I think I am) was 'The Truman Show'.  This book by Klosterman attempts to provoke the reader to at least contemplate that what they think they know may be wrong. He uses examples like concept of gravity, and how it ...
2 comments
Read more

Presumptive Society

Today's world is hyper connected.  I am not so sure what it means but you hear it a lot.  It is probably hyper but not sure how connected it is.  Sugar (fermented or not) is available in many ways than before and so getting hyper is easy.  It is probably more a threat than cocaine since it is sold legally. And what is this connected stuff?  Most people I encounter seem disconnected from reality.  So going back to this assumption that we are connected there are subtle and no so subtle instances of how brands and companies and middle men try to portray someone - A linkedin profile for somebody working for X years at a place advertises to the connected network that so and so is CELEBRATING X years @ Such and Such Inc. Do we know if (s)he is celebrating or cringing?  Perhaps a better way to portray will be - So and So LASTED X years @ such & such inc. Then it exhorts the readership to go ahead and congratulate them for this lasting effe...
2 comments
Read more