Born and bred in Kochi, Karun, a security guard stationed in the town of Gurez in Kashmir finds himself falling for Faheem, a charming local with an intoxicating smile. Faheem is returning home to help run his family restaurant, as well as to host treks showcasing the beauty of the valley beyond its infamy as a battleground. Faheem instantly wins Karun over with friendly conversations over text message and countless peace offerings of apples and candies. In a distant land far from home, this warm welcome from a complete stranger feels like home for Karun. It’s not long before an initial uncertainty blossoms into intimacy. Thus launches Director Onir’s “We Are Faheem & Karun,” premiering at this year’s BFI Flare festival.
After screening his movie “Pinecone” at BFI Flare 2024, Onir returns to the festival—as well as to the valley (his critically acclaimed and National Award-winning anthology “I Am” is also set in Kashmir). “We Are Faheem & Karun” is yet another outspoken artistic offering, co-written with Filmmaker Fawzia Mirza (of “The Queen of My Dreams” fame) that sparks conversations on complex and pertinent topics—often ones that intersect with sensitive depictions of sexuality.
No Stranger to Controversy
Onir is no stranger to courting controversy due to his unapologetic stances in his work. In interviews, he has been vocal about the hurdles in getting “We are Faheem & Karun” off the ground due the Ministry of Défense’s vehement opposition of an early draft of the script that featured a homosexual soldier as the protagonist. It was deemed ‘derogatory,’ which resulted Karun’s profession eventually being changed to a security guard instead of soldier.
Thus, it doesn’t come as a surprise that fear and prejudice towards ‘the other’ is a key theme in Onir’s film. Acceptance is especially difficult to come by for Faheem, due to the tensions in Kashmir. Faheem’s brother Zaid (Mir Salman) views everyone—from imposing authority figures to his brother’s sexual orientation—through a lens of suspicion and derision. Frustrated over being singled out as an outsider in his own homeland whenever violence erupts, Zaid also despises the romanticization of Kashmir as a paradise for tourists. He is particularly vocal about Faheem working as a tour guide and promoting the valley for its pristine physical beauty, perceiving this act as a cover-up to distract from the ongoing bloodshed. Yet simultaneously he understands Faheem’s motives. Faheem defends his guided tours as a means of combatting preconceived notions towards labeling locals as the enemy, who are generalised as hooligans in mainstream media.
Unity in the Face of Adversity
The setting itself is a central character, with Kashmir featuring as a backdrop for ‘forbidden romances’ in Bollywood prior to “We Are Faheem & Karun,” one of which is Shoojit Sircar’s “Yahaan” (2005). Despite the two-decade long gap between them, both movies showcase vignettes of relationships blossoming and threatening to fall apart amidst turmoil. The two films contrast sweet kisses and Kashmiri apples with the bitter ravages of insurgency. They also simultaneously shed light on pleas for peace and freedom in the valley, the protective nature of parents or a guardians, and lovers who are burdened by their duty/uniform, fraught with helplessness and trust issues.
Furthermore, “We are Faheem & Karun” makes its case for unity in the face of diversity or adversity through the power of language. The movie serves as a melting pot of characters conversing in Kashmiri, Malayalam, and Hindi. In a short but meaningful conversation with a Bengali couple honeymooning in the valley, Karun even points out that his perch at the check post in Gurez overlooks the hilltops of neighbouring Pakistan, voicing the need to bridge the physical and emotional distance with empathy. However, due to a few ‘rotten apples’ stoking the embers of hate and division, it does seem that his rose-tinted view of the future is but a distant dream. Karun is later chased through the streets by a few hostile locals who’ve succumbed to mob mentality while a rousing hymn literally and metaphorically drowns out any hopes of unity in the background.
Akash Menon and Mir Tawsef Show Promise
As mentioned earlier, “We Are Faheem & Karun” is another example of Onir’s ability to intricately examine themes of sexuality and norms within the existing socio-political climate. Scenes which exemplify this include Karun fixating over hiding his more sensitive traits, code-switch on the job by putting on a mask of overt masculinity (as expected, the mask violently clashes with his genuine personality that is as saccharine sweet as an apple). And later, Karun’s fellow guards subtly showcase allyship, remaining brothers-in-arms through thick and thin. An instance that highlights the latter—albeit briefly—involves the guards gathering in their shared tent to watch dance reels of trans influencers on their phones in their downtime. Adding to this, a co-worker emphasises art has no gender in response to a transphobic comment passed by one of his peers. Subsequently he expresses the need for empathy and humanity rather than prejudice towards the trans community.
Akash Menon and Mir Tawseef show promise with their compelling performances as the lovelorn leads Karun and Faheem respectively. The romantic beats of this movie are further bolstered by a natural chemistry between both actors. The wholesome, romantic sequences are complimented by soulful compositions put together by regulars Vivek Philip and Pritam (both of whom have worked with Onir in the past on the soundtracks of “Bas Ek Pal” and “My Brother…Nikhil”). Accompanying these tracks, the lyrics by the noted Amitabh Bhattacharya pair befittingly with the melodies. Onir also infuses life into the mundane and lends personality to the characters by utilising recurring elements from his prior works such as “Kuchh Bheege Alfaaz,”with the guards gathered around a bonfire enthusiastically reciting Shayari (poetry).
Sreening at BFI Flare
Overall, “We Are Faheem & Karun” is another poignant and thought-provoking addition to Onir’s growing body of work. It proves that love has no borders nor gender, even if it ultimately ends on the bitter note of division only further exacerbating the never-ending history of conflict.
“We Are Faheem & Karun” screens at BFI Flare on 20th and 22nd March.
