Director Simon Chambers, Delwar Hussain
Country/Production UK
Release 2007
Length 63 mins
Format Colour / DVD / PAL or NTSC / All region
Location London/Bangladesh / Europe
Ethnic Group London Bangladeshis
Language English, Bengali (English sub)
Collection NA
Prizes/Commendations RAI Film Prize 2007
Order No RAI-209.2007.11
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East London Muslim girl Shahanara is changing form pink hot pants into a sari to meet her husband at the airport. She has only met him once before, when she was married in a union arranged by her Bangladeshi family. Shahanara only agreed to the marriage to try and heal old wounds with her father, who had banished her from her family for her Western ways. Meanwhile her devout Muslim sister Hashnara is being groomed for her own arranged marriage, something that at 19 she does not feel at all ready for. Filmed by a close friend of the family this film explores universal theme of love and the conflicts between first and second generations of a British Bangladeshi family. (Winner RAI Film Prize 2007).
This film is made by a social worker, Simon Chambers, working among Bangladeshi Muslims in London’s east end, and a social worker with advanced technical, craft and creative filmmaking skills. The film is presented through his eyes and has many of his personal and highly informed comments and reactions to what happens to his characters, who have been his friends for some years.
The main character is an 18 year Bangladeshi, UK National, called Shahanara. She is a feisty tear-away modern girl who has had an arranged marriage with a “village boy” from Bangladesh. She is determined to “live her own life”, and only agreed to the marriage to “keep in touch” with her mother, having been banished by her father because of her western values, having her own boyfriend and the shame he feels she has brought on the family.
The film starts with Shahanara going to meet her new husband when he lands at Heathrow airport. The whole extended family is also there. We meet Shahanara’s younger sister, Hushnara, a devout Muslim, who is happy to go along with her arranged marriage. Slowly we get involved in their marriage plans and all personal reactions of the younger generation, and the parent’s plans for their futures.
Four months later Shahanara has rejected her Bangladeshi “village boy” husband and is going out with an older British-born divorced Bangladeshi boyfriend. The family then plans to go to Bangladesh for Hushnara’s wedding, but Hushnara refuses to marry him. We witness the most intimate and heated family scenes. Finally Hushnara agrees to the marriage and the family, including Shahanara (but on a separate ticket), set off to Bangladesh. In their native village we discover that the father has invested in land and agriculture, and that though they are poor in the East End of London, they are wealthy and respected in the Bengali countryside. The ornate arrangements for the wedding proceed, as past loves and promises of marriage are revealed, and Hushnara has her doubts and many tearful moments. The wedding goes ahead over three days and, comatose, Hushnara is taken away by her new husband. It is a very moving sequence. At the reception for Hushnara into her new family, she recovers completely, everything is smiles and seemingly joyful. However Shahanara’s mother-in-law appears and pleads for her daughter-in-law to come back to her son. We begin to understand the profound affection, emotions and desire for the best, which underlies arranged marriages. Shahanara then appears in the nearby town saying that her in-laws only want the marriage in order to take advantage of her nationality for their son. She says goodbye to her newly-wed sister and returns to England never having met her parents, her husband or her in-laws while in Bangladesh.
Back in London the film draws to a rapid close as Shahanara’s life moves on yet again. The film ends with a poignant moment of reflection by the filmmaker that mirrors the way the film began and resolves many of the inner conflicts and tensions that give this film its complex weft.
Comment: This is a very engaging, touching, emotional and intimate film, based on the extremely close and long-term relationship between the filmmaker, who largely remains behind the camera (except for one intriguing sequence when the camera is turned on him) and the main character, Shahanara. It is a complex fi
