'Sheer Qorma' trailer: Swara Bhasker, Divya Dutta's tale of acceptance
Days after the release of Ayushmann Khurrana's Shubh Mangal Zyada Saavdhan, one of mainstream Bollywood's first movies to portray homosexual romance, the trailer of Divya Dutta and Swara Bhasker-starrer Sheer Qorma is out. The movie tells the story of two queer women in love, as they struggle for acceptance in their own family. Here's more on this.
Sheer Qorma has been written and directed by Faraz Arif Ansari, who is best known for making internationally acclaimed short movie Sisak (2017), which is regarded as India's first silent LGBT love story. The upcoming movie revolves around the story of two Muslim women, as they battle against conservative notions pertaining to their religion, gender, and sexual orientation.
The trailer opens with a dining table conversation between Sitara, a Pakistani-Canadian woman (played by Swara Bhasker), her partner Saira (Divya Dutta) and the latter's family. Even as the family tries to strike small talk, with topics such as Pakistani kebabs, the conversation unwarrantedly shifts to non-binary gender-identities and gender-neutral pronouns. The trailer also shows glimpses of Jitin Gulati (Sisak) and writer Priya Malik.
Sitara and Saira, who have been in a relationship for 10 years in Toronto, decide to come back to India, as they long for their family's approval. However, Sitara's mother (Shabana Azmi), a conservative, homophobic woman, strongly disapproves of their relationship, which she insists is "against the nature". The movie unravels how the couple stays together and struggles for the mother's acceptance.
Talking about the cast and the movie, director Faraz had earlier said, "Divya and Swara are two celebrated names in the industry and strong allies of the LGBTQIA+ community. It was an easy decision to approach them." "In fact, when I started writing the film, I had Divya in my mind, and already saw her playing this role," the director added.
Sheer Qorma will have its world premiere at the London LGBT Film Festival, which is scheduled to take place in March. However, the theatrical release date of the movie (if any) has not been revealed yet.
