In Flames [2023]

 It’s perhaps neither coincidental nor surprising that in the two films from Pakistan that gained international acclaim in consecutive years – Salim Sadiq’s sublime and rapturous Joyland, and Zarrar Kahn’s eery and visceral In Flames – women’s fierce desire to exert their agency in defiance of patriarchy were incontestably manifest. The Western liberal backgrounds of both filmmakers undeniably influenced, informed and shaped their films’ feral thematic undercurrents and bold storytelling. The pervading everyday horrors of the real world – misogyny, gender violence, predatory behaviour and familial abuse – were interwoven into the film’s milieu and tapestry, and in turn counterpointed as well as triggered and even amplified the horrors emanating from the supernatural realms in this gripping work. Set in the gritty city of Karachi, a compelling mother-daughter relationship – both trying in futility come to terms with grief and trauma – foregrounded the tale. Mariam (Ramesha Nawal) is a strikingly independent-minded twenty-something girl who’s studying medicine, while her mother Fariha (Bakhtawar Mazhar) is a single woman taking care of her two kids through her job as a schoolteacher; the violent conclusion to Farah’s abusive husband when Mariam was little, meanwhile, continues to haunt both. The demise of Mariam’s maternal grandfather has suddenly placed them in a financially vulnerable position, and her slimy uncle descends like a vulture with his eyes on their modest property. The situation’s grimness is marginally allayed when Mariam gets in a tender relationship with a gentle-natured Canada-returned guy (Omar Javaid). However, when their romantic getaway to the seaside goes awry, a malignant can of worms is thrown open, taking them on a hellish spiral. Nawal and Mazhar’s competent turns aided the commendable interplay between chilling atmosphere and sharp social critique.

Director: Zarrar Kahn

Genre: Horror/Family Drama/Supernatural Drama

Language: Urdu

Country: Pakistan

Joyland [2022]

 Biba – the vivacious transwoman in Joyland who refuses to be stripped off her agency despite an existence marked by scorn and marginalization, and played with stunning élan by Alina Khan – immediately reminded me of similarly unforgettable transwomen characters in Lemebel’s My Tender Matador, Roy’s The Ministry of Utmost Happiness and Shree’s Tomb of Sand, who too possessed unbridled verve, gall and gumption. She was one of several people here who let loose a riot of desires in reckless abandon. The way gender boundaries, sexual stereotypes, patriarchal structures and heteronormative identities were subverted in this magnificent feature debut by Saim Sadiq, therefore, was exhilarating! That it was also laced with such tenderness, profound intimacy, existential malaise and bursts of rebellious joy, was as indicative of its narrative aplomb as its radical humanism. The film’s tapestry was weaved around the middle-class Rana family residing amidst the bustle of Lahore – the wheelchair-bound patriarch (Salmaan Peerzada) who’s unabashedly conservative, yet has developed an attachment with a widowed woman; his elder daughter-in-law Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani) who manages all domestic duties and keeps giving birth in the hopes of begetting a male heir, while surreptitiously smoking on the roof and lashing out when offended; Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), the younger daughter-in-law, who’s fiercely protective of her financial independence, hates conventional gender roles, and succumbs to furtive impulses; and Mumtaz’s unassuming husband Haider (Ali Junejo), who happily helps with household chores and becomes hopelessly enamoured with Biba upon secretly joining a risqué dance theatre. The latter affair was memorably counterpointed with the rapturous friendship that develops between Nucchi and Mumtaz. All three were magnificently enacted in this gorgeously cinematographed work filled with impudence, vitality, melancholy and desolation.

Director: Saim Sadiq

Genre: Drama/Romantic Drama/Family Drama/Existential Drama

Language: Urdu/Punjabi

Country: Pakistan