'What Will People Say' does not show Pakistan in negative light: Iram Haq

Movie revolves around a free-spirited Norwegian girl, born to Pakistani immigrants, who suddenly loses her freedom

Pakistani-origin actor-director Iram Haq's film What Will People Say, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, is a bold take on female oppression among south Asian families.

It is a story of a free-spirited Norwegian schoolgirl, born to Pakistani immigrants, who one day suddenly loses her freedom. She is then taken to Pakistan by her father - an alien land and culture for her.

The film is also the personal story of Pakistani-Norwegian film-maker Haq, who too, was forcibly taken to Pakistan as a teenager and kept there for one-and-a-half year.



"It is a personal journey for me. It happened to me when I was a teenager," the director said at the premiere.

Haq said she dared to follow her own path. "I live the life I wanted. I have a son... we stopped the social control," she said.

Asked about whether her film portrays Pakistan in a negative light, considering some very unpleasant scenes about family and police in Pakistan, Haq said she never intended to cast anything in negative light.

"I didn't think about negative portrayal of Pakistani culture. I am talking about the subject in this film," she said.

Neither was she trying to portray Pakistani men in a negative light. She said the father in the film loves her daughter and he wants the very best for her. But he is trapped in a culture.



"He loves his daughter and she loves him....(but) the father is under pressure."

The director said the aim of her film is to build a bridge between immigrant parents and their children.

Haq, whose first feature I am Yours also premiered at TIFF in 2013, said, "I wanted to make this film before I am Yours. But I wanted take time and tell it from the parents' point of view also."

18-year-old actor Maria Mozdhah, who shames her parents in the role of young schoolgirl Nisha in the film, said her character is a very complex one.

Mozdhah, whose parents immigrated from Afghanistan to Norway, said, "Someone with a multicultural background will relate to my character."

She said her character had found a balance between the two worlds in which she lived.



Interestingly, the Pakistan part of the film was shot in India's Ajmer and Udaipur. Haq too has a deep Indian connection as her father was born in Rajasthan. Her mother's family comes from Lucknow.

What People Will Say wowed audience at its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

This emotionally gripping family drama reminds one of the 1983 Bollywood movie Log Kya Kahenge (What People Will Think), in which Shabana Azmi plays the role of a young woman who is forced into marriage with a widower and how she takes revenge.

"It is still happening (to young girls) in Norway and elsewhere,” Haq previously stated in an interview.

Adil Hussain and Ekavali Khanna have essayed the role of Nisha’s parents with aplomb.

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