Review: ‘The Queen of My Dreams’ tells an ambitious multi-generational story brought together by a Bollywood romance

• queen of my dreams
• director Fauzia Mirza
• written by Fauzia Mirza
• starring Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq
• classification PG; 97 minutes

Even the most casual Bollywood fan will know this iconic song. Mille Sapnon Ki Rani From the 1969 hit movie Aradhana. The film starred Bollywood icons Rajesh Khanna and Sharmila Tagore in all their beehive and glossy lip glory. The plot line was unique in that Tagore played the dual roles of Khanna’s girlfriend’s lover and her mother. This song continues to be loudly sung by Romeos today, especially when making public displays of affection.

The title and spirit of Fauzia Mirza’s debut work is borrowed from the English translation of the song title. queen of my dreams.mirza movie What started out as a play about one character played by them went on to undergo a decade-long transformation. First it will be a short film, then a feature film. Meanwhile, Mirza made several other short films. Nour and Layla Christmas Eve Game Night at the Sayid Family and Auntie.

Perhaps it’s a case of sticking with the project for too long. Or maybe it’s a story that doesn’t change easily from one medium to another. my dream queen room It works in some places, but the story is too disjointed to truly immerse the viewer in the Technicolor world. This is an ambitious project, an attempt to tell a multigenerational story of faith, culture, queer and diasporic identity, all tied together by a mother and daughter’s love for Bollywood romance. But that homage also ends up prolonging the film.

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The story begins with Azra (Amrit Kaur), a young queer Muslim woman living in Toronto. She wants to become an actress, much to the dismay of her mother Mariam (Nimra Bucha). Mariam, a devout Muslim, frowns upon her daughter’s life choices, including living with her roommate Rachel (Kaia Mosey). Although details are not revealed, it seems like Mariam knows that Rachel is actually Azra’s girlfriend. In the middle of the mother-daughter duo is Hassan (Hamza Haq), a kind man who knows how to appease both wife and daughter.

However, Hassan suddenly passed away during a trip to Karachi, Pakistan. Azra urgently returns home with his brother Zahid (Ali A. Kazmi) and grieves with his mother, who has taken refuge in the crevices of his faith. This trip to Pakistan triggers flashbacks of a fictional Karachi in the 60s. There, young Mariam (played by Kaur in a dual role) is being courted by Hassan (still Huq).

We see the events that transform the young, boisterous Mariam, who didn’t care about social conventions, into Mama Mariam, who ultimately follows her new life in Nova Scotia. We learn from another series of flashbacks that doctors Hassan and Mariam immigrate to Canada to raise their children Azra (played as a teenager by Ayana Manji) and Zahid (still Kazmi). This is where the first rifts begin to appear between mother and daughter.

The movie idea likely worked. on paper. The cast is great. We have seen Kaur, Bucha and Haku in various recent works. TSex life of female college students, Ms. Marvel and transplant, To name a few, each. Other big names from Pakistan’s film and television industry also appear in small roles. They are seasoned actors, but they can’t break through a certain level of finesse. There may be a lack of direction. Kaur is as lanky as Azra and goes all out with Mariam’s rebellious attitude. Haq is similarly charming as the young Hassan, and has the charisma and charm of Mariam. But his turn as an older version of himself isn’t entirely believable.

Mirza’s vision of Karachi in the 1960s captures the fun with the DayGlo colors of the time, and that sense of pretense carries over from the actors to the work. It feels like a movie shot on a set or in front of a green screen. And frankly, there are too many Tagore and Khanna panels crowing along the tracks of the Darjeeling Himalayan Express.

There are some fun and smart moments along the way. It’s similar to how suitors who come to Karachi for tea meet in Tupperware in Nova Scotia. Mariam and Azra are doppelgangers not only in appearance but also in behavior. But its jokes, like the fluorescent pink watering can, can be out of context at best. At worst, by force.

I watched a movie and thought I wanted to see a play as well. It’s understandable how this song’s refrain would have worked in a stage production. What makes this deeply personal story of coming of age, coming out, and coming to terms with one’s mother such a moving experience is that we would have experienced it all through the actors on stage. You don’t get a sense of Azura’s character arc on screen.

Some projects may work out, perhaps in a dream.

To ensure consistency in reviews across all critics, the Globe has discontinued its film and theater star rating system in favor of coverage of music, books, visual arts, and dance. Instead, outstanding works receive nominations chosen by critics across all coverage areas. (Typically excludes television reviews based on unfinished seasons.)