Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker Fawzia Mirza, who wrote “Me, My Mom and Sharmila” says the play depicts her relationship with her mother who represents the Rajesh Khanna-Sharmila Tagore era to her.
The actor-filmmaker was present here at the 19th Jio MAMI Mumbai Film Festival With Star here on Tuesday for the special screening of her film “Signature Move” that features actress Shabana Azmi.
In an interactive session with the media, when asked about her play “Me, My Mom and Sharmila”, Fawzia said: “Well, the idea was to capture the South Asia that we really do not get to see anymore.”
“Not just Americans but Europeans also do not know much about the 60s and 70s of south Asia… the culture, the society the essence of that time.
“Since my mother was growing up at that time, in the play, I tried to create that (era). My mother represents that era of Sharmila Tagore and Rajesh Khanna… she danced on the romantic numbers of their films especially ‘Mere sapno ki rani’ from ‘Aradhana’.”
Fawzia says her mother is a diehard Sharmila Tagore fan.
She wrote the play, which talks about growing up South Asia as a gay person, as a monologue. It has been performed at various places including International Theatre Festival at the National College of Arts in Lahore in 2015.
Currently, she is planning to shoot the play into a feature film.
Known for her web series ‘Kim Kardashian’, the filmmaker has received a positive response on her latest film “Signature Move” at international film festivals. Directed by Jennifer Reeder, the film premiered at South by Southwest Film Festival in the US.
