The first-look poster of award-winning director Rahat Kazmi’s adaptation of Ismat Chughtai’s 1942 Urdu short story, Lihaaf was unveiled at the Cannes Film Festival.
The film is a joint venture produced by Indian producers and the Oscar-winning French producer of No Man’s Land, Marc Baschet.
LIHAAF POSTER
While addressing the media, Marc Baschet said: “I am very happy to be part of a film with such a strong theme with universal appeal. Apart from the story, I was also very impressed with this young team of professional filmmakers who bring such sensitive, delicate stories to life on the big screen.”
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Lihaaf is a narrative of a true event in the life of Chughtai when she was in her teens and stayed with a feudal family for a short while. The story deals with homosexuality, a subject which is still considered taboo in large parts of the world.
Speaking about the project, director Rahat Kazmi said, “Lihaaf (The Quilt) looks at an emotional and physical relationship of a neglected woman with her lady masseur borne from a suffocating feudal environment as seen through the eyes of a teenager.”
Rahat said that the subject has some relevance in the current society. “The story becomes a powerful critique of the contemporary society of rich land-owing men lost in the pursuit of their male-centric pleasures to the utter neglect of their womenfolk,” he added.
Rahat started his career with Identity Card, a film based on the Kashmir conflict. It gained critical acclaim and awards, including Best Film and Best Director at San Francisco Global Movie Festival. His most recent film Mantostan was awarded Best Director at London Asian Film Festival 2017.