NASIR – directed by Arun Karthik
co produced by MAGIC HOUR FILMS
Reviewed by 10 Top International Film Publications
Please click on the publication name [reviewer] and follow the link:
Hollywood Reporter [Neil Young]
Variety [Jay Weissberg]
Screen International [Wendy Ide]
UK Film Review [Nathanial Eker]
ScreenAnarchy [Martin Kudlac]
Cine Europa [Carlota Mosegui]
Asian Movie Pulse [Grace Han]
Film Companion [Baradwaj Rangan]
NDTV [Saibal Chatterjee]
The Hindu [Namrata Joshi]
For complete film credits / reviews visit: Nasir’s IMDB page (click here)
Summary
Salesman Nasir lives a contended life with his mother Fatima, wife Taj and nephew Iqbal in a closely populated ghetto. Employed in an apparel shop at the heart of a busy city, the middle aged Nasir is a hard worker. He speaks humorously and makes others laugh. He is also endowed with a half-baked philosophical attitude, so he likes poetry. On Sundays he composes poems along the lines of Hindi film songs of the sixties and launches them in front of his co-workers. When he recites his poems, he starts with his right hand placed over his chest and with wave-like motions nearly brushing the noses of the listeners. He smokes ten Beedis a day and drinks four cups of tea. He goes for his midday prayers occasionally. Nasir’s chronicle emerges through the detailed observation of his vicinity over the span of one particular day. As his day unfolds we find him to be a nimble romantic, marshaling a love of love, song, children, friendship, and even God to rise into something resembling a life well lived. But the increasing communal bigotry has other plans.
About ‘NASIR’
Nasir is a Tamil-language political drama film directed by Arun Karthik. It is an Indo-Dutch-Singaporean co-production between Magic Hour Films, Stray Factory, Rinkel Films, Uncombed Buddha, Colored Pickle Films & Harman Ventures.
Nasir, a recipient of the prestigious Hubert Bals Fund in 2018 premiered in Tiger Competition at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam 2020. It won the NETPAC award for Best Asian Film premiering at the festival
The film went on to be officially selected at other several international film festivals including New Directors/New Films 2020 and Mumbai Film Festival 2020
Nasir is one of India’s 2 features films from a worldwide selection to be a part of We Are One: A Global Film Festival, an historic online global film festival initiated by You Tube and Tribeca and curated by twenty-one top international film festivals including Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Venice, Sundance, Locarno, Rotterdam, Tokyo.
Nasir received positive reviews from several major international entertainment trade magazines including The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Screen Daily, UK Film Review and Film Companion. The Hollywood Reporter describes the film as “An observational chronicle of one seemingly ordinary day in the life of a seemingly ordinary sari salesman in the southern Indian city of Coimbatore,” with a focus on tolerance and human values.