My Son the Fanatic (film)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
My Son the Fanatic
Directed by Udayan Prasad
Produced by Chris Curling
Written by Hanif Kureishi
Starring Om Puri
Rachel Griffiths
Akbar Kurtha
Stellan Skarsgård
Music by Stephen Warbeck
Cinematography Alan Almond
Running time 87 min.
Language English

My Son the Fanatic is a 1997 British drama film directed by Udayan Prasad. It was written by Hanif Kureishi after his short story My Son the Fanatic.

Contents

[edit] Plot

One of the most revealing insights into Britain’s recent social history comes early in “My Son the Fanatic,” Hanif Kureishi’s tender and darkly prescient 1997 film. It’s morning in an unnamed city in northern England, and Parvez, a secular Pakistani immigrant taxi driver brilliantly portrayed by Om Puri, watches Farid, his increasingly devout college-age son, sell his electric guitar. “Where is that going?” Parvez asks Farid as the buyer drives off. “You used to love making a terrible noise with these instruments!” Farid, played by Akbar Kurtha, looks at his father with irritation. “You always said there were more important things than ‘Stairway to Heaven,’ ” he says impatiently in his thick northern English accent. “You couldn’t have been more right.”[1]

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

[edit] Cast

  • Om Puri as Parvez: an alcoholic Pakistani taxi-driver who after living in the UK for many years is still working hard to make a living in his taxi whilst others that migrated with him have made their wealth.
  • Rachel Griffiths as Bettina/Sandra: a prostitute who goes by the name of Bettina whom has become friends with local Taxi man Parvez. Her real name is Sandra.
  • Akbar Kurtha as Farid: Parvez's grown-up son and is to be engaged to the local Chief Inspector's daughter Madeleine Fingerhut; upon discovering that his future father-in-law detests his family he turns to Islam and is radicalised.
  • Stellan Skarsgård as Schitz: a German businessman who makes use of Parvez and Bettina's professional services.
  • Gopi Desai as Minoo: Parvez's wife and mother of their son Farid.
  • Harish Patel as Fizzy
  • Sarah-Jane Potts as Madeleine Fingerhut
  • Geoffrey Bateman as Chief Inspector Fingerhut
  • Judi Jones as Mrs Fingerhut

[edit] Nominations

[edit] Prizes

[edit] References

  1. ^ "NYT Profile". Retrieved on August24, 2008.

[edit] External links

Stub icon This article related to a British film of the 1990s is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Son_the_Fanatic_(film)"