The first ever Pakistani film selected to screen in Cannes draws its title from the eponymous amusement park in Lahore, a place that offers refuge to people who seek acceptance, or brief moments of joy.
“Joyland” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase
Saim Sadiq returns to the topic of sexual identity and patriarchal structures that strongly dominate his homeland, and to the milieu of the erotic dance theatre he has already explored in his wonderfully accomplished short “Darling”, which won the Orizzonti Competition in Venice 2019. Starring Ali Junejo as Haider, a young man living according to tradition, dancing to the tunes of his father and his hoarse older brother Saleem (Sohail Sameer), “Joyland” speaks of repressed desires of both sexes, strongly divided gender roles, and a never ending chain of compromises someone who doesn't fit into such image has to make.
Haider lives in an arranged...
“Joyland” is screening at San Diego Asian Film Festival Spring Showcase
Saim Sadiq returns to the topic of sexual identity and patriarchal structures that strongly dominate his homeland, and to the milieu of the erotic dance theatre he has already explored in his wonderfully accomplished short “Darling”, which won the Orizzonti Competition in Venice 2019. Starring Ali Junejo as Haider, a young man living according to tradition, dancing to the tunes of his father and his hoarse older brother Saleem (Sohail Sameer), “Joyland” speaks of repressed desires of both sexes, strongly divided gender roles, and a never ending chain of compromises someone who doesn't fit into such image has to make.
Haider lives in an arranged...
- 4/21/2023
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
Editors note: This review was originally published May 23 after its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The film opens in New York on Friday and in Los Angeles on April 21.
A married man falls for a trans woman in Joyland, the first Pakistani feature to play in Cannes. Saim Sadiq’s atmospheric Un Certain Regard drama also explores a whole family, presenting a picture of a clan torn between modernity and tradition in contemporary Lahore.
Haider (Ali Junejo) has a seemingly happy arranged marriage with Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). But when he gains work as a backing dancer for the glamorous trans performer Biba (Alina Khan), his eyes are opened to another way of life — and potentially another way of loving. Meanwhile, his wife is frustrated with the expectations of the patriarchal society she lives in, and much less enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing another boy into the family.
The Joyland of the title is an amusement park which provides an escape for many of the group, whether dancing with a troupe or screaming out their pain on a fairground ride.
Haider makes for a quietly compelling lead: a man oppressed by his father’s conventional expectations, and more sensitive than he dare admit. His wife is a tragic figure: a smart woman who deserves more than her lot. But the most distinctive character is Biba, the pre-op trans woman who makes a living with exotic dancing — sometimes in front of a large, relatively mainstream audience, other times for a small crew of lewd, sexually aggressive men.
The relationship between Haider and Biba is riveting — we’re never quite sure how far it will go, or what drives Haider. There’s a suggestion that he may be attracted to men, which infuriates Biba, who identifies as female. And yet there is a tangible tenderness between these two lost souls, both living lives they haven’t signed up for. That Biba has made the brave move to change her gender implicitly emboldens Haider to live more honestly according to his own sexuality. But this may come at a cost.
Joyland has a vivid sense of place, created not so much by its geographical backdrop as its characters. There’s an attention to detail in the rituals of daily life, whether it’s family celebrations or the rehearsals of the dance group. Mostly restrained emotionally, this packs an unexpected gut punch towards the end of the film, where it shifts focus to a deserving subject and drops another key character.
Presumably that’s meant to reflect the perspective of the protagonist, though it does leave some stories up in the air. But Joyland remains a thoughtful, well performed and engrossing drama set in a culture that’s shifting, and not always with ease.
Title: Joyland
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Release date: April 7, 2023 (NY)/April 21 (L.A.)
Director-screenwriter: Saim Sadiq
Cast: Ali Junejo Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salmaan Peerzada, Sania Saeed
Running time: 2 hr 7 mins...
A married man falls for a trans woman in Joyland, the first Pakistani feature to play in Cannes. Saim Sadiq’s atmospheric Un Certain Regard drama also explores a whole family, presenting a picture of a clan torn between modernity and tradition in contemporary Lahore.
Haider (Ali Junejo) has a seemingly happy arranged marriage with Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). But when he gains work as a backing dancer for the glamorous trans performer Biba (Alina Khan), his eyes are opened to another way of life — and potentially another way of loving. Meanwhile, his wife is frustrated with the expectations of the patriarchal society she lives in, and much less enthusiastic about the prospect of bringing another boy into the family.
The Joyland of the title is an amusement park which provides an escape for many of the group, whether dancing with a troupe or screaming out their pain on a fairground ride.
Haider makes for a quietly compelling lead: a man oppressed by his father’s conventional expectations, and more sensitive than he dare admit. His wife is a tragic figure: a smart woman who deserves more than her lot. But the most distinctive character is Biba, the pre-op trans woman who makes a living with exotic dancing — sometimes in front of a large, relatively mainstream audience, other times for a small crew of lewd, sexually aggressive men.
The relationship between Haider and Biba is riveting — we’re never quite sure how far it will go, or what drives Haider. There’s a suggestion that he may be attracted to men, which infuriates Biba, who identifies as female. And yet there is a tangible tenderness between these two lost souls, both living lives they haven’t signed up for. That Biba has made the brave move to change her gender implicitly emboldens Haider to live more honestly according to his own sexuality. But this may come at a cost.
Joyland has a vivid sense of place, created not so much by its geographical backdrop as its characters. There’s an attention to detail in the rituals of daily life, whether it’s family celebrations or the rehearsals of the dance group. Mostly restrained emotionally, this packs an unexpected gut punch towards the end of the film, where it shifts focus to a deserving subject and drops another key character.
Presumably that’s meant to reflect the perspective of the protagonist, though it does leave some stories up in the air. But Joyland remains a thoughtful, well performed and engrossing drama set in a culture that’s shifting, and not always with ease.
Title: Joyland
Studio: Oscilloscope Laboratories
Release date: April 7, 2023 (NY)/April 21 (L.A.)
Director-screenwriter: Saim Sadiq
Cast: Ali Junejo Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salmaan Peerzada, Sania Saeed
Running time: 2 hr 7 mins...
- 4/7/2023
- by Anna Smith
- Deadline Film + TV
The widely acclaimed film Joyland, the first Pakistani feature to premiere at the 75th Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard, has just won the Best International Film award at the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Starring Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Sohail Sameer, Salmaan Peerzada,
and Sania Saeed will soon be released in U.S. theaters beginning with New York on April 7, Los Angeles on April 21 plus more cities afterwards.
The debut feature from writer-director Saim Sadiq, Joyland explores the many sides of love and desire in a patriarchal society. Gentle and timid, Haider (Ali Junejo) lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father, and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. Following a long spell of unemployment, Haider finally lands a job at a Bollywood-style burlesque, telling his family he is a theater manager, when in actuality, he is a backup dancer. The unusual...
and Sania Saeed will soon be released in U.S. theaters beginning with New York on April 7, Los Angeles on April 21 plus more cities afterwards.
The debut feature from writer-director Saim Sadiq, Joyland explores the many sides of love and desire in a patriarchal society. Gentle and timid, Haider (Ali Junejo) lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father, and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. Following a long spell of unemployment, Haider finally lands a job at a Bollywood-style burlesque, telling his family he is a theater manager, when in actuality, he is a backup dancer. The unusual...
- 3/10/2023
- by Stacey Yount
- Bollyspice
Through the course of this ensemble drama from Saim Sadiq a number of serious themes will emerge about the oppression of gender traditions but he displays a lightness of touch that hooks us on gentle observation as we enter the world of a single Pakistani household.
The family is ruled by an ageing widowed patriarch (Salmaan Peerzada), whose opinions of the rest of his brood are generally strict and sour. He reserves particular opprobrium for his youngest son Haider (Ali Junejo), who is more or less functioning as a house husband while his make-up artist wife Mumtaz (Rashi Farooq) goes out to work. While at home Haider cooks, cleans and helps out his older go-getter brother Kaleem (Sohail Sameer) and wife Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani) with their three - and soon to be four - young children.
The preference for boys is accentuated by Kaleem and Nucchi’s hopes for their latest.
The family is ruled by an ageing widowed patriarch (Salmaan Peerzada), whose opinions of the rest of his brood are generally strict and sour. He reserves particular opprobrium for his youngest son Haider (Ali Junejo), who is more or less functioning as a house husband while his make-up artist wife Mumtaz (Rashi Farooq) goes out to work. While at home Haider cooks, cleans and helps out his older go-getter brother Kaleem (Sohail Sameer) and wife Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani) with their three - and soon to be four - young children.
The preference for boys is accentuated by Kaleem and Nucchi’s hopes for their latest.
- 2/26/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Saim Sadiq’s film explores the unsettled social and sexual identities of a widower and his children with delicacy and tenderness
The right way to feel love, and the right way to feel part of a family, are the insoluble difficulties at the heart of this mysterious, sad and tender movie from Pakistan, a drama brimming with life and novelistic detail, directed by the first-time film-maker Saim Sadiq. He has been rewarded with the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes, an official entry-shortlisting for the Academy Awards (though not a final nomination), and derision and censorship from Pakistan’s sterner political classes for his film’s supposed sexual immorality.
It is the story of an extended family in Lahore. Rana Amanullah, or “Abba” (Salmaan Peerzada), is an elderly widower in a wheelchair who presides over a large clan in a cramped apartment, near an amusement park called Joyland. One son,...
The right way to feel love, and the right way to feel part of a family, are the insoluble difficulties at the heart of this mysterious, sad and tender movie from Pakistan, a drama brimming with life and novelistic detail, directed by the first-time film-maker Saim Sadiq. He has been rewarded with the Un Certain Regard jury prize at Cannes, an official entry-shortlisting for the Academy Awards (though not a final nomination), and derision and censorship from Pakistan’s sterner political classes for his film’s supposed sexual immorality.
It is the story of an extended family in Lahore. Rana Amanullah, or “Abba” (Salmaan Peerzada), is an elderly widower in a wheelchair who presides over a large clan in a cramped apartment, near an amusement park called Joyland. One son,...
- 2/22/2023
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
CAA has signed director Saim Sadiq, who helmed “Joyland,” Pakistan’s official entry for the 95th Academy Awards, for representation.
Sadiq was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” for 2023 in recognition of the film, which marks his debut feature. “Joyland” made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival — becoming the first Pakistani film to debut at the fest — where it was awarded the Un Certain Regard jury prize and the Queer Palm. The film has also been nominated for best international film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards and made history as Pakistan’s first film to be shortlisted for best international feature film at the Academy Awards.
Written and directed by Sadiq, the film tells the story of Haider (Ali Junejo), who lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. After a long spell of unemployment, Haider...
Sadiq was named one of Variety’s “10 Directors to Watch” for 2023 in recognition of the film, which marks his debut feature. “Joyland” made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival — becoming the first Pakistani film to debut at the fest — where it was awarded the Un Certain Regard jury prize and the Queer Palm. The film has also been nominated for best international film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards and made history as Pakistan’s first film to be shortlisted for best international feature film at the Academy Awards.
Written and directed by Sadiq, the film tells the story of Haider (Ali Junejo), who lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. After a long spell of unemployment, Haider...
- 2/15/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Joyland Trailer — Saim Sadiq‘s Joyland (2022) movie trailer has been released by Oscilloscope Labs. The Joyland trailer stars Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Rasti Farooq, Sarwat Gilani, Salmaan Peerzada, Sameer Sohail, and Sania Saeed. Crew Saim Sadiq and Maggie Briggs wrote the screenplay for Joyland. “Produced by Apoorva Charan, Sarmad Khoosat, Lauren Mann, Kathryn M. Moseley, [...]
Continue reading: Joyland (2022) Movie Trailer: A Family’s Hope For a Male Heir is Thrown Array in Saim Sadiq’s Film...
Continue reading: Joyland (2022) Movie Trailer: A Family’s Hope For a Male Heir is Thrown Array in Saim Sadiq’s Film...
- 1/29/2023
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
"Have you ever dance in a theatre before?" One of the best festival discoveries from 2022 is this Pakistani film titled Joyland, marking the feature debut of filmmaker Saim Sadiq. It was submitted by Pakistan for the 95th Academy Awards, but unfortunately it didn't make the cut as one of the five nominated. Joyland first premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section, and it also just played at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival this month in their Spotlight section. "Take a first glimpse into the daring, soul searching film that delves deep into the challenging complexities of desire and gender identity through the lens of the Rana Family." The youngest son from a traditional Pakistani family takes a job as a backup dancer in a Bollywood-style burlesque theater, and he quickly becomes infatuated with the strong-willed trans woman, BIba, who runs the show. It stars Ali Junejo,...
- 1/27/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Indian actress Priyanka Chopra has praised Pakistan’s Oscar entry ‘Joyland’ calling it a “must watch” movie.
Priyanka took to Instagram Stories and shared a video of the film’s trailer. She wrote: “#Joyland is truly a joy to watch. Bravo to the entire team for bringing this story to life. It’s a must watch.”
She tagged the film’s makers, director, and some members of the cast as well in her post.
‘Joyland’, directed by debutante Saim Sadiq, tells the tale of a patriarchal family, craving for the birth of a boy to continue the family line. The family’s youngest son, the protagonist, secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a trans woman.
The film stars Sania Saeed, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Rasti Farooq, Salmaan Peerzada and Sohail Sameer. It was released in Pakistan in November after a short ban.
‘Joyland’ is currently...
Priyanka took to Instagram Stories and shared a video of the film’s trailer. She wrote: “#Joyland is truly a joy to watch. Bravo to the entire team for bringing this story to life. It’s a must watch.”
She tagged the film’s makers, director, and some members of the cast as well in her post.
‘Joyland’, directed by debutante Saim Sadiq, tells the tale of a patriarchal family, craving for the birth of a boy to continue the family line. The family’s youngest son, the protagonist, secretly joins an erotic dance theatre and falls for a trans woman.
The film stars Sania Saeed, Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani, Rasti Farooq, Salmaan Peerzada and Sohail Sameer. It was released in Pakistan in November after a short ban.
‘Joyland’ is currently...
- 1/18/2023
- by News Bureau
- GlamSham
Left Handed Films, the production company of Academy Award-winning producer and actor Riz Ahmed, has joined the Pakistani film “Joyland” as an executive producer.
Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, “Joyland” made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Un Certain Regard jury prize and the Queer Palm. The film has been nominated for best international film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards and was recently shortlisted for best international feature film at the 95th Academy Awards, as Pakistan’s official entry.
The film tells the story of Haider (Ali Junejo), who lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. After a long spell of unemployment, Haider lands a job working as a background dancer at a Bollywood-style burlesque — though he tells his family he’s the theater’s manager — and falls in love with...
Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, “Joyland” made its world premiere at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival, where it was awarded the Un Certain Regard jury prize and the Queer Palm. The film has been nominated for best international film at the 2023 Independent Spirit Awards and was recently shortlisted for best international feature film at the 95th Academy Awards, as Pakistan’s official entry.
The film tells the story of Haider (Ali Junejo), who lives with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his father and his elder brother’s family in Lahore, Pakistan. After a long spell of unemployment, Haider lands a job working as a background dancer at a Bollywood-style burlesque — though he tells his family he’s the theater’s manager — and falls in love with...
- 1/12/2023
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Activist and Nobel Peace Laureate Malala Yousafzai has joined Pakistani film “Joyland’s” team as Executive Producer, a Variety report stated. “Joyland,” directed by Saim Sadiq, is Pakistan’s official submission in the foreign language film category at the Oscars. Yousafzai is backing the film through her own production company, Extracurricular Productions.
“I am incredibly proud to support a film that proves Pakistani artists are among the best in global cinema. “Joyland” invites us to open our eyes to the people closest to us — to see our family members and friends as they are, not colored by our own expectations or societal bias,” Yousafzai said.
Read More: Malala Yousafzai Talks Social Media Activism, Politics And More In ‘British Vogue’
“Joyland” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year, where it picked two awards — Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm. “Joyland” is conquering the international film circuits...
“I am incredibly proud to support a film that proves Pakistani artists are among the best in global cinema. “Joyland” invites us to open our eyes to the people closest to us — to see our family members and friends as they are, not colored by our own expectations or societal bias,” Yousafzai said.
Read More: Malala Yousafzai Talks Social Media Activism, Politics And More In ‘British Vogue’
“Joyland” premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May this year, where it picked two awards — Un Certain Regard Jury Prize and Queer Palm. “Joyland” is conquering the international film circuits...
- 10/5/2022
- by Divya Goyal
- ET Canada
Another example of a tasteful but passionless festival film, Saim Sadiq’s feature debut Joyland errs on the side of arch family drama when its most interesting aspects remain almost in the periphery, promising a much better film. Simply put, what seemed like a modern iteration of Josef von Sternberg’s The Blue Angel should have a little more spice, though sadly such comparison might just be the exact projection a critic makes when frankly bored by a film.
In this modern melodrama we find, residing in the Pakistani city of Lahore, the Rana family, who (while dysfunctional) remain a tight unit. But the most problems arise with our lead, the son Haider (Ali Junejo), who can’t stop getting himself into trouble. Early on, asked to kill a goat to prove his place as a man by his quietly intimidating, wheelchair-bound father (Salmaan Peerzada), he falters and his wife...
In this modern melodrama we find, residing in the Pakistani city of Lahore, the Rana family, who (while dysfunctional) remain a tight unit. But the most problems arise with our lead, the son Haider (Ali Junejo), who can’t stop getting himself into trouble. Early on, asked to kill a goat to prove his place as a man by his quietly intimidating, wheelchair-bound father (Salmaan Peerzada), he falters and his wife...
- 9/20/2022
- by Ethan Vestby
- The Film Stage
Discouraged identities and taboo desires emerge tentatively into the open in “Joyland,” but unlike in a many a coming-out drama, there’s no identified villain or oppressor — just an uncertain world in its own state of societal and generational transition. Pakistani writer-director Saim Sadiq’s confident, expressive debut feature is conscientiously fair to everyone in its Lahore-set domestic melodrama of secrets, lies and unforeseen self-discovery, but never feels like it’s hedging its bets or shying away from harder truths. Tartly funny and plungingly sad in equal measure, this is nuanced, humane queer filmmaking, more concerned with the textures and particulars of its own intimate story than with grander social statements — even if, as a tale of transgender desire in a Muslim country, its very premise makes it a boundary-breaker.
As the first Pakistani production ever to unspool in the Cannes official selection, “Joyland” entered the festival as something of a milestone,...
As the first Pakistani production ever to unspool in the Cannes official selection, “Joyland” entered the festival as something of a milestone,...
- 6/10/2022
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
The first ever Pakistani film selected to screen in Cannes draws its title from the eponymous amusement park in Lahore, a place that offers refuge to people who seek acceptance, or brief moments of joy.
“Joyland” screened at Cannes Film Festival
Saim Sadiq returns to the topic of sexual identity and patriarchal structures that strongly dominate his homeland, and to the milieu of the erotic dance theatre he has already explored in his wonderfully accomplished short “Darling”, which won the Orizzonti Competition in Venice 2019. Starring Ali Junejo as Haider, a young man living according to tradition, dancing to the tunes of his father and his hoarse older brother Saleem (Sohail Sameer), “Joyland” speaks of repressed desires of both sexes, strongly divided gender roles, and a never ending chain of compromises someone who doesn’t fit into such image has to make.
Haider lives in an arranged marriage with Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). She is a strong-willed,...
“Joyland” screened at Cannes Film Festival
Saim Sadiq returns to the topic of sexual identity and patriarchal structures that strongly dominate his homeland, and to the milieu of the erotic dance theatre he has already explored in his wonderfully accomplished short “Darling”, which won the Orizzonti Competition in Venice 2019. Starring Ali Junejo as Haider, a young man living according to tradition, dancing to the tunes of his father and his hoarse older brother Saleem (Sohail Sameer), “Joyland” speaks of repressed desires of both sexes, strongly divided gender roles, and a never ending chain of compromises someone who doesn’t fit into such image has to make.
Haider lives in an arranged marriage with Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq). She is a strong-willed,...
- 5/26/2022
- by Marina D. Richter
- AsianMoviePulse
The first Pakistani film to premiere at Cannes, Saim Sadiq’s Un Certain Regard selection “Joyland” rides a fine line between sweet and foreboding right from its opening shot, in which an unseen adult man waltzes mischievously with his nieces while shrouded in a bedsheet. His life, and his liveliness, are carefully concealed; he exists as if between the worlds of the living and the dead.
This is Haider Rana (Ali Junejo), a soft-spoken husband to an outspoken wife. The film revolves around him and uses him as its magnifying glass to zero in on social rigidities — gender and sexuality in particular — and the quiet, often painful ways in which they manifest.
“Joyland” is, on one hand, a kind film. It paints even Haider’s quietest moments in bright, living colors. He and his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) — to whom he was betrothed before they met — have a playful, personable understanding of each other,...
This is Haider Rana (Ali Junejo), a soft-spoken husband to an outspoken wife. The film revolves around him and uses him as its magnifying glass to zero in on social rigidities — gender and sexuality in particular — and the quiet, often painful ways in which they manifest.
“Joyland” is, on one hand, a kind film. It paints even Haider’s quietest moments in bright, living colors. He and his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq) — to whom he was betrothed before they met — have a playful, personable understanding of each other,...
- 5/23/2022
- by Siddhant Adlakha
- Indiewire
“The Blood of Hussain” is quite a significant film for Pakistan, for a number of reasons. Firstly, the shooting was completed just before the rise of General Zia-ul-Haq’s military junta, that actually banned the film since the events depicted had many similarities with the actual political situation. Dehlavi had to smuggle the film out of the country and leave Pakistan himself in order to finish its production in London, where it eventually premiered, while it still remains banned in Pakistan. Secondly, the main story shares many similarities with the one of Hussain, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, who was killed by the usurper Yazid. This element offended many Muslims, who felt that it raised the tension between Shias and Sunnis, to the point that some Islamic groups insisted on his return in order to face the consequences. Thirdly, the film had quite a successful festival run, screening in Director’s Fortnight in Cannes,...
- 10/18/2018
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Actor best known for his part in Potter's The Singing Detective
The actor Badi Uzzaman, who has died from a lung infection aged 72, was perhaps best known for playing the patient in the hospital bed next to Michael Gambon in The Singing Detective (1985). The pair's camaraderie provided some of the lighter moments in Dennis Potter's TV series and showed off Uzzaman's talent for comedic roles. In their scenes together, Gambon (as Philip Marlow) and Uzzaman (as Ali) were shown to share an outsider status, Marlow due to his disfiguring skin condition and Ali due to his race.
Uzzaman again explored British attitudes toward race in Brothers in Trouble (1995), a film directed by Udayan Prasad and based on Abdullah Hussein's novel about the experiences of Pakistani illegal immigrants in Britain in the 1960s. Uzzaman himself was no stranger to the immigrant experience. He was born in Phulpur, in Azamgarh,...
The actor Badi Uzzaman, who has died from a lung infection aged 72, was perhaps best known for playing the patient in the hospital bed next to Michael Gambon in The Singing Detective (1985). The pair's camaraderie provided some of the lighter moments in Dennis Potter's TV series and showed off Uzzaman's talent for comedic roles. In their scenes together, Gambon (as Philip Marlow) and Uzzaman (as Ali) were shown to share an outsider status, Marlow due to his disfiguring skin condition and Ali due to his race.
Uzzaman again explored British attitudes toward race in Brothers in Trouble (1995), a film directed by Udayan Prasad and based on Abdullah Hussein's novel about the experiences of Pakistani illegal immigrants in Britain in the 1960s. Uzzaman himself was no stranger to the immigrant experience. He was born in Phulpur, in Azamgarh,...
- 6/21/2011
- by Tania Ahsan
- The Guardian - Film News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.