Shades of Ray (2008)

Director:

Jaffar Mahmood

Writer:

Jaffar Mahmood (writer)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

Life's not always brown or white.

Plot:

American-born Ray Rehman comes home one night to find his Pakistani father on his doorstep. Ray's Caucasian mother threw him out...

Plot Keywords:

Beautiful Woman | Character Name In Title

Awards:

2 wins

Cast

Zachary Levi	...	Ray Rehman
Fran Kranz	...	Sal Garfinkle
Sarah Shahi	...	Sana Khaliq
Bonnie Somerville	...	Noel Wilson
Brian George	...	Javaid Rehman
Kathy Baker	...	Janet Rehman
Gerry Bednob	...	Naseem Khaliq
Phil Rosenthal	...	Director #1
Jasen Wade	...	Mitch
Rex Lee	...	Dale
Cody Klop	...	Sal, age 12
Jake Kasdan	...	Director #3
Art Evans	...	Tyler
David Doty	...	Pierre
Sharmila Devar	...	Shirmeen

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Trivia:

World Premiered at the Austin Film Festival.

A Wonderful Film

First and foremost, I was fortunate enough to view this film at the South Asian Film Festival in NYC. I came into this movie with the assumption that the story and plot would revolve around a half-Pakistani and half-Caucasian character who had troubles getting by in everyday American life. To my pleasant surprise, Jaffar's movie proved to put that assumption to shame, as he successfully dove deep into the inner workings of American society, family life, and love, for everyone who has ever struggled, and not just South Asians. From the very beginning of the movie, with an opening sequence that had the entire audience practically in hysterics, to a heart piercing and emotionally empathetic scene further into the film, Jaffar takes the term "Romantic Comedy" to an entirely new echelon. The character developments starting at the beginning of the movie and continually throughout, present such a connection between them and the audience. Zachary Levi couldn't have done a more stellar job at being absolutely hilarious and then sensitively heartfelt when need be. Brian George delivered every single line with a touch of laughter and love, and Sarah Shahi was not only beautiful, but made it impossible for the audience not to feel attached. Jaffar hand-picked this wonderful cast of actors to exemplify the amazing characters that he created. Overall, with the terms "independent" and "major" aside, this film was nothing short of genius. Jaffar has truly created a masterpiece, and I feel fortunate to have viewed it. I truly hope that he lands a distribution deals with the majors, so that the entire world can get a chance to experience Shades of Ray.