The trailer for Swara Bhasker, Divya Dutta and Shabana Azmi’s upcoming film Sheer Qorma has been released. The film has been directed by Faraz Arif Ansari, who is known for his LGBTQ short Sisak.
Swara plays Sitara, a Pakistani-Canadian who travels to India to meet her partner Saira’s (Divya Dutta) family. The trailer opens with a tense dinner table conversation where Saira explains to a confused sister-in-law that she identifies as non-binary. While she is keen to mend ties after being estranged from her family for 15 years, her mother (Shabana) refuses to accept their relationship, calling it unnatural, even as Saira’s brother tries to convince her otherwise. At the end of the trailer, she appears to have had a change of heart and shows up at the couple’s doorstep with a peace offering.
Watch the trailer here:
According to a press release issued by the makers, Sheer Qorma is a “heart-rending narrative of the longing for love and acceptance, felt by queer children in their parental homes that plays out through delicate story telling, told through characters of courageous queer women of colour.” Calling Shabana’s character in the film “the Mother India of the 21st Century”, Ansari told IANS, “The character Shabanaji essays in Sheer Qorma is going to resonate with mothers all across the world and also open up a much-needed dialogue about parenthood, with not just parents of queer children but a more universal dialogue that I hope will bring a lot of love back in our universe.” The release date for the film is yet to be announced.
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