Qavi Khan and Saboor Aly's short film 'Nanu Aur Main' is headed to DFW South Asian Film Festival
Qavi Khan and Saboor Aly have starred in a heartwarming tale about the bond between a grandfather and granddaughter and it looks like the film is being greatly enjoyed all over the world.
Directed by Ali Sohail Jaura and written and shot by Muhammad Belaal Imran, Nanu Aur Main features Saboor as Erum who is raised by her grandfather (Qavi) after the death of her parents. When Erum leaves to study abroad, the two keep in touch with letters initially until she gets wrapped up in her new life. However, one day she receives a letter from Nanu that forces her to realise that it's time for her to return home.
Director Jaura says that the film is now being screened at the Dallas-based DFW South Asian Film Festival, which he describes as "one of the largest South Asian fests in North America. Many high-profile Pakistan and Indian films, like Mehreen Jabbar's Lala Begum and Iram Haq's What Will People Say, which was Norway's entry for the Oscars, were screened there last year." Nanu Aur Main is being screened on May 19 from 11am to 1pm at the festival's AMC Village on the Parkway 9 venue.
Nanu Aur Main has previously been screened at many other international fests, including India's Kolkata Short Film Festival 2018, Arthouse Asia 2019, Bangalore Short Film Festival 2018, and Tasveer South Asian Film Festival 2018 and Vancouver South Asian Film Festival 2018 in North America. In Europe, it's been screened at Largo Film Awards 2018 in Switzerland and Filmstrip International Film Festival 2018 in Romania.
The film is both Qavi Khan and Saboor Aly's first short film, according to Jaura who described the experience of making the film as a delight.
He said, "I always wanted to work with veteran actors. Qavi sahab is very humble, very nice person. He's a living legend of our country and I believe we should give good roles to our senior artists where they can showcase their unique abilities, They can still contribute amazingly to our cinema. There is no comparison of them with new actors."
"Saboor also gave her 100% to the role. She had to portray different ages and managed that challenge very well."
Jaura added that Nanu Aur Main is a special film dedicated to their grandparents. "We wanted to explore family themes in a different way as it's done on TV," he said.
The film is available on iflix.