Touch of Pink (2004)

A gay Canadian living in London has his perfectly crafted life upset when his devoutly Muslim mother comes to visit.

Director:

Ian Iqbal Rashid

Writers:

Ian Iqbal Rashid, Ken Chubb (story editor)

Stars:

Jimi Mistry, Kris Holden-Ried, Suleka Mathew

4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Jimi Mistry	...	Alim
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Spirit of Cary Grant
Suleka Mathew	...	Nuru Jahan
Kris Holden-Ried	...	Giles (as Kristen Holden-Ried)
Veena Sood	...	Dolly
Brian George	...	Hassan
Liisa Repo-Martell	...	Delia
Raoul Bhaneja	...	Khaled
Malika Mendez	...	Sherubai
Linda Thorson	...	Giles' Mother
Andrew Gillies	...	Raymond
Barna Moricz	...	Alex
Sam Moses	...	Vendor
Dean McDermott	...	Alisdair Keith
Les Porter	...	Caterer

Storyline

Alim is an Indo-Canadian man currently living in London, England, the move in order to get away from what he feels is his repressive life in Toronto under the watchful and critical eye of his widowed mother, Nuru. For Nuru and her equally competitive sister Dolly, the perfect public Muslim persona is the most important thing in life. Back in London, Alim is free to live openly as a homosexual, of which his mother is not aware. He is in a loving relationship with his live-in British boyfriend, Giles. To navigate through his complicated life, Alim uses the spirit of 'Cary Grant' as his confidante and advisor. Feeling like her life is missing a daughter-in-law as Dolly prepares for her son's "perfect" wedding, Nuru decides to reconnect with Alim in London. Not yet ready to tell his mother of either Giles or his homosexual orientation, Alim, with Giles' support, hides any aspect of this fact for Nuru's visit. But as Giles is tested one turn after another during Nuru's visit, both Alim and...

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Plot Keywords:

gay | gay club | homophobia | gay cruising | gay slur | 

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Taglines:

Playing it straight...is about to get very complicated.

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content and brief language

Did You Know?

Trivia

The character of Karim was added to the script just before filming had started. Ian Iqbal Rashid felt that Nuru should also have a love interest and a happy ending.

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Quotes

Khaled: What would it take to get a little kiss?
Alim: Chloroform.

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Connections

References That Touch of Mink (1962)

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Soundtracks

Summer Son
Written by Sharleen Spiteri and Johnny McElhone and Eddie Campbell and Charlotte Hodson
Performed by Texas

User Reviews

Who knew there were gay Muslims?

I had the opportunity to view "Touch of Pink" as a special showing to members of the Miami Gay and Lesbian Film Festival community this week. The director, Ian Iqbal Rashid, was present and provided a wonderful Q&A following the showing.

The film is "low budget" - just how low is low? The director wouldn't say (a provision in his contract with Sony, apparently). Frankly, I have seen many big budget films that delivered much, much less. The fact that the director also wrote the screenplay and the lyrics to the original compositions shows his devotion to delivering this film. From concept to screen took him 11 years!

Several facts speak for themselves: 1. The audience reacted very favorably to this film at Sundance, and at the screening I attended, 2. It has been picked up by several major Lesbian & Gay Film Festivals for prime opening or closing night slots and 3. It is scheduled for release by Sony Pictures in July. This is not your run of the mill film festival film! Most films come to the film festival circuit LOOKING for a distributor.

One could easily say the premise has been overdone (i.e., homophobic mother/gay son/coming out angst story). For me, however, this film had unique twists that made it anything but trite. A gay, Indian Muslim from Canada living in London and forced to confront his own and his family's, homophobia isn't something I've ever witnessed before. Kyle MachLachlan as Cary Grant (a make believe friend of the main character, Alim) is a sight to behold. The acting is generally superb; the timing of the lines perfect. Throw in enticing sets and wonderful costuming and you've got magic going on.

At a time when we in the West are confronted daily with images of the "evil" radical fundamentalist Muslim world, I believe this film serves yet another purpose. It shows the humanity of Muslims, and I'm certain this image is much more realistic than the one we see repeated ad nausea on CNN. Dealing with homophobia is a common denominator: Maybe we have more in common with the vast majority of Muslims than we have been lead to believe. One leaves with a sense of optimism (if Alim can survive this mess with such cultural obstacles, maybe there is hope for the kid in the Midwest from a fundamentalist Christian family). There is even an Indian distributor signed up, so maybe an even greater impact will be made in the Muslim world.

As one audience member put it, "I like movies that make me think, make me laugh and make me cry...this did all three." I couldn't agree more. This is a must see!

Details

Country:

Canada UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 July 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

That Touch of Pink

Filming Locations:

London, England, UK

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$79,883, 18 July 2004

Gross USA:

$564,535

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$581,055

Company Credits

Production Co:

Martin Pope Productions, Sienna Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1