Review: 'Land Gold Women' is regressive, yet poignant

Film: Land Gold Women
Cast: Narinder Samra, Neelam Parmar, Chris Villiers, Hassani Shapi, Renu Brindle
Director: Avantika Hari
Rating: ***

'A woman was and still is a man’s most precious possession,' exclaims a British-Pakistani attorney, unwilling to accept her white colleague’s reasoning that culture and religion could be drivers for a man to kill his own daughter to protect his 'honour.'

Cut to a neighbourhood in Birmingham. Nazir Khan (Narinder Samra) is a soft-spoken, family man. Having moved to the UK 25 years ago, and completed 17 years as a history professor at University of Birmingham, Nazir is now mentally preparing himself and wife Rizwana (Renu Brindle) for their daughter’s plans to pursue higher education. Like any father, Nazir is worried for 17-year-old Saira’s (Neelam Parmar) well-being. He’s afraid he won’t be able to protect her while she’s away at university.

Saira is hopeful her father will overcome the sudden urge to cling on to his Indian roots and let her go to Cambridge, a move she sees as bringing her closer to English boyfriend David (Chris Villiers). All hell breaks loose when Nazir’s older brother, Riyaaz, (Hassani Shapi) a fundamentalist, arrives from India with a marriage proposal for Saira. But when Saira elopes with David, the unimaginable happens.

'She made me look like a complete failure,' reasons a remorseless Nazir, when asked if he was guilty of abetting the killing of his own daughter. At this point he’s clearly the same, helpless father brainwashed by his rigid brother for whom honour is bigger than even one’s own children. The murder is revealed right in the beginning. Fair enough.

Subtlety and simplicity become strengths and weaknesses of Land Gold Women -- Zan Zar, Zameen. Writer/director Avantika Hari knows her subject well and deals with it sensitively, leaving out sensationalism generally associated with a topic of this nature.

For long we’ve heard of honour killings in the hinterland, but Land Gold Women holds a mirror to the society which, on the outside, is empowered by education, development and Westernisation, but deep within runs a rotten ethos, steeped in regression.

Hari’s first feature manages to hit the nail on the head, effortlessly. Her task is simple, bringing a story to the audience, one she’d written while still a film student in the UK, one born out of observations. The treatment is, on the looks of it, not meant to make a statement or take a stand. But so laidback is the attitude, the punch is elusive.

Hari’s casting is near-perfect, each actor suited best for the characters they play. Narinder Samra and Neelam Parmar steal the show, as the father-duo caught in conflicts of different kinds, never able to decide for themselves what’s right. Hassani Shapi as Riyaaz is menacing, while Renu Brindle’s mother is typical. Chris Villiers does not get much screen time. Amar Mohile’s music is haunting, but doesn’t do much to adapt to the changing moods of the narrative.

Hari’s attempt definitely leaves a mark and has been recognised at many national and international film festivals. It won the National Award for Best Film in English 2010.

Land Gold Women is not the kind of film that makes you feel good at the end. It’s simple, yet poignant. Watch it for its significant story and performances.