My Son the Fanatic (1997)

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

Director:

Udayan Prasad

Writers:

Hanif Kureishi (short story), Hanif Kureishi

Stars:

Om Puri, Rachel Griffiths, Akbar Kurtha

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Om Puri	...	Parvez
Rachel Griffiths	...	Bettina / Sandra
Akbar Kurtha	...	Farid
Stellan Skarsgård	...	Schitz
Gopi Desai	...	Minoo
Harish Patel	...	Fizzy
Sarah-Jane Potts	...	Madeline Fingerhut (as Sarah Jane Potts)
Judi Jones	...	Mrs. Fingerhut
Geoffrey Bateman	...	Chief Inspector Fingerhut
Bernard Wrigley	...	Drunk man
Moya Brady	...	Druggy prostitute
Badi Uzzaman	...	Man in mosque
Andy Devine	...	Comedian
Shiv Grewal	...	Waiter
Omar Salimi	...	Rashid

Storyline

Parvez was born in Lahore, Pakistan, and as a child was asked to study the Holy scriptures through a Maulvi. When the Maulvi started his sermon, Parvez would fall asleep, this lead to the Maulvi devising a unique punishment, which ultimately compelled Parvez to stop attending. When he grew up, his marriage was arranged with Minoo and they immigrated to a small town in Britain, where Parvez started to make a living driving a taxi, and found himself free from all religious activity. 25 years later, Parvez is an alcoholic, still driving a cab, while people who had immigrated after him have their own businesses and are wealthier. Parvez now has a grown son, Farid, who is the apple of his eye, and is to be engaged to Madeleine Fingerhut, who is the daughter of the local Chief Inspector. After the two families' meet, Farid has a sudden change of heart when he notices that the Chief Inspector detests his family, and it slowly dawns on him that he and his girlfriend are quite different, and ...

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Plot Keywords:

prostitute | pakistani | taxi | taxi driver | islam | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexuality, language and a scene of drug use

Details

Country:

UK France

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 January 1998 (France)

Also Known As:

Gyilkosságra nevelve

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$38,399 (USA) (25 June 1999)

Gross:

$408,339 (USA) (30 July 1999)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Arts Council of England, BBC Films, British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Siskel & Ebert: Episode dated 3 July 1999 (1999)

User Reviews

The petty humiliations of a working man

While this film is superficially about East Indian immigrants in Yorkshire, its themes are universal. Anyone who is or is related to an immigrant should feel at home here.

As far as religion goes, these characters could be Jewish or Christian as easily as Moslem. The mediaevalist/modernist conflict is the same. There's no reason why the audience for this film should be just a parochial one.

Om Puri gives a brilliant and nuanced performance as the central character, the resilient Punjabi cab driver. Rachel Griffiths is very fine as always as his kindred spirit, a hooker, although her character here is a little more limited in scope than those she portrayed in "Muriel's Wedding" and especially "Hilary and Jackie". Stellan Skarsgård also steps into a pair of shoes a few sizes smaller than those he has worn in the past.

Unheralded though it may have been, this is another thoughtful comedy-drama from Hanif Kureishi, author of "My Beautiful Laundrette" amongst others.