My Son the Fanatic (1997)

Director:

Udayan Prasad

Writers:

Hanif Kureishi (short story)
Hanif Kureishi (written by)

Release Date:

7 January 1998 (France)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Pakistani taxi-driver Parvez and prostitute Bettina find themselves trapped in the middle when Islamic fundamentalists decide to clean up their local town.

Plot Keywords:

Prostitute | Pakistani | Islam | Muslim | Bedroom

Awards:

1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Om Puri	...	Parvez
Rachel Griffiths	...	Bettina / Sandra
Akbar Kurtha	...	Farid
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Schitz
Gopi Desai	...	Minoo
Harish Patel	...	Fizzy
Sarah-Jane Potts	...	Madeline Fingerhut (as Sarah Jane Potts)
Judi Jones	...	Mrs. Fingerhut
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Chief Inspector Fingerhut
Bernard Wrigley	...	Drunk man
Moya Brady	...	Druggy prostitute
Badi Uzzaman	...	Man in mosque
Andy Devine	...	Comedian
Shiv Grewal	...	Waiter
Omar Salimi	...	Rashid

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and a scene of drug use.

Runtime:

Finland:88 min | UK:87 min

Country:

UK | France

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:MA (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | Finland:K-16 | Portugal:M/16 | UK:15 | USA:R

Company:

Arts Council of England

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Siskel & Ebert & the Movies: (1999-07-03)" (1999)

My Son the Fanatic deserves applause for it's originality and honesty at portraying south asians in the west

My Son the Fanatic was a surprizing treat. I never heard of it before renting at blockbuster last night. I don't think it ever played in Toronto theatres. Never the less I must applaud at Hanif Kureshi's yet again bold and honest attempt at highlighting a recent phenomenon in the South Asian community: the son going "holier than thou" on the family. This film touched me personally because in my case the opposite happened; my father turned fanatic muslim on me. Hanif Qureshi's "My Beautiful Laundrette" is one of my favourite films of all time and after "Budha of Suburbia" I fell in love with this brilliant man and his work. "My Son" is a lot less shocking but still weaves it's way through the father and son conflict elegantly and I am shocked at how blind the Oscar nominators are when it comes to Om Puri's brilliant acting! This is the first film portraying South Asians where the wife has some personality and actually speaks out so I see her as a mother, a wife and a woman that I know because she exists in my community. She is dull and fat and stuck in her little world within the four walls of her home. I dislike her but I know her. The subtle emotions and body language of this lower middle-class family might not be fully understood by a non-south asian critic and that is why some find it moves slowly sometimes. I could not agree with Earnest Hardy more when he says this film (and others by the writer) "endorse a morality of compassion". I think that is the only moral value worth pushing!