The role of women in Indian cinema in the recent years has changed by leaps and bounds from playing meek sidekicks to the male lead to playing strong characters in women centric ones. These new age actresses are picking up bolder roles and the recent film ‘Qissa – The Story of A Lonely Ghost’ depicts this clearly. Actors Tillotama Shome and Rasika Duggal portray two strong female characters in this film and have done a brilliant job winning global awards all around.
Set in the background post partition era, the film also runs a parallel Story of Kanwar and Neeli along with that of Umber, played by Irrfan Khan. The strong undercurrents of emotional dilemma and feelings which these two share, are sometimes not determined by the dialogues but by simple gestures. It explores bold issues which never cross the thresholds of curiosity. Dealing with issues like gender bias and identity crisis, the movie delivers a strong message for the viewers.
The female actors of today, taking up such powerful roles, are creating an impact with their confidence and acting skill. They are not being shy of addressing some of the more ‘complicated’ issues of the society. The characters of Kanwar and Neeli in the film invoke the audience to think and ponder upon the issues that still plague our society.
NFDC’s international co-production, Qissa, a Punjabi language feature film by Anup Singh stars Irrfan Khan, Tisca Chopra, Tillotama Shome and Rasika Dugal. The film is set to release in India on February 20, 2015 simultaneously across select theatres, on NFDC’s VOD site www.cinemasofindia.com and on DVD, thereby making the Punjabi language feature film accessible to a diverse pan Indian audience.
Story of the film:
Uprooted by the religious violence that came with partition in 1947, Umber and his family move to a safer locale attempting to forge a new life for his family while keeping their true identities a secret from their community by bringing up their fourth daughter as a son. It is here that the story takes a remarkable turn. History and folklore come together in this tale set in the aftermath of the Partition of India. As Umber’s daughter is raised as a boy, the characters are propelled with greater and greater urgency towards their inevitable fates.
