Touch of Pink

Synopsis: 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
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Director(s): Ian Iqbal Rashid
Production: Sony Pictures Classics
  4 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.6
Metacritic:
46
Rotten Tomatoes:
36%
R
Year:
2004
91 min
$188,206
Website
160 Views


Good evening, ladies and gentlemen,

and welcome.

I'm Cary Grant.

Now, I know what you're thinking:

"But he's been dead

for 20-odd years."

Actually, longer.

I first died when I made

The Pride and the Passion in '59.

But as long as there are people

who remember us...

...who laugh and cry at the ghostly

impressions we've left behind...

...then we're alive.

I read that once.

Then I ate the fortune cookie.

But seriously...

...you good people just keep

looking up to us movie stars...

...and we'll keep looking after you.

Now, that'll be Alim.

I look after him.

Lucky Alim.

He's happy.

He's successful. In love.

And frankly,

that's all because of me.

Here's my little samosa now.

Bubbles?

The living room will be there.

And the bedroom over there.

What about a fireplace?

I love fireplaces.

Then we'll put one in every room.

You know, we really ought to

go on holiday.

Let's go to Bermuda.

Stay for a while, then cruise around

the Greek islands.

It's the only way to see

the Greek islands: Slowly, by boat.

They're like fine paintings.

You mustn't rush up to them.

Time to get back.

Set photographer, please.

Do think about that holiday.

Can I have the

set photographer, please?

I'm here.

Clear for rehearsal.

Looks like Niagara Falls.

Only in flowers.

It's only the engagement party.

Wait till you see the wedding.

First-class only.

Must have cost a fortune.

What does it matter?

Khaled is minting money.

Do you know,

he actually buys ice now.

Oh, make sure you wipe

these glasses, hey? No spots.

If it didn't look so tacky,

I'd do it all myself.

Khaled, not the red tie. It'll clash with

the food, hey, beta? Wear the blue.

When Alim gets engaged,

all this will be yours.

Oh, Nuru.

Well, maybe not all this.

Nuru, your gray is poking through.

You haven't colored your hair?

For whom?

It's your day, Dolly.

Nobody will be looking at me.

- Hey.

- Hey, babe.

- I didn't have time to get home.

- You look great.

He wants me to be best man.

Now, as you know, I've never been

to Canada, never met your family...

...or been to a Muslim wedding.

Now, how could I meet

these three goals all at once?

Come on. You were just talking

about a holiday.

Toronto is not a

holiday destination, Giles.

Try the prawn one next, huh?

Three different kinds of pulao.

You can always come back for more.

Oh, don't they make

a gorgeous couple.

- "The course of true love..."

- Gathers no moss.

Sheru.

Giles!

Hello. Happy anniversary. Hello.

Come on.

Hey.

- Delia.

- Are you surprised?

- You look surprised.

- Absolutely.

Hello, Mum.

You do like surprise parties,

don't you?

Sure. I just wish I'd known.

Sheru. Oh, is this your little Dilshad?

Oh, what a cute little bunny.

Oh, Nuru, look how big she's become.

- Dilshad wants another samosa.

- Does she?

You will be playing

with your own grandchildren soon.

Khaled wants two boys

and two girls.

And Nuru's Alim will also make her

a grandmother soon.

- From your lips to Allah's ear.

- Did I mention that Alim is courting?

- Lovely young woman. Surgeon...

- A surgeon?

- Like Khaled's girl, no?

- Nina's a dentist.

- Yes. A dentist.

- Dolly. Dolly.

Pardon me. Come.

The cake-cutting is beginning.

Shame Alim's girl's not here.

She could lend a knife.

- Alim has a girl?

- He'll come to the wedding, won't he?

He's coming now?

Of course he's coming to

his cousin-brother's wedding.

- From what I was told...

- Wait until you see the cake.

So lovely, isn't it, Dolly?

Filled with nuts

and fruit and cream.

Well, it's very rich. And expensive.

I'll only have a bite. Sweets go directly

from my mouth to my hips.

Like your husband, no?

Come, come. Pardon me.

Excuse me. Coming through.

- You all right?

- Yeah. Just a bit smoky.

So you invited exes?

Giles doesn't have any actual friends,

only exes.

Hope it's okay.

Of course, it's fine.

I can't believe you did this.

- I know. Oh, yes, and Mum helped.

- I bought the invitations.

Had nothing to do with

choosing the location.

Mum, it's where they met.

Well, happy anniversary, Alim.

Well, I do wish I'd known.

I'd have gone home and changed.

You missed a spot.

Yeah.

Now we can rest.

No, not yet.

There's too much to do. Get up.

There's nothing left to do.

We've done everything.

Came from Mombasa

without a cent.

Worked hard, raised our son.

Took all their sh*t.

Enough classical music, okay?

Yeah.

Remember?

No, Hassan, l...

Finally, after everything

they put us through, it's over.

We have money in the bank,

our son's getting married.

Oh, our son, the dentist,

is getting married, hey?

Nothing can touch us now.

We've won.

Won?

What have we won, eh?

We've won. Everything.

Listen to him.

Did you hear that, Nuru? "Won."

Nuru?

Nuru Jahan?

So tell me,

what exactly are we celebrating?

It's our anniversary, Dad.

Well, yes,

but anniversary of what?

What your father is asking is, is it

the anniversary of the day you met...

...or the day you moved in together,

or what?

What.

I'm going to get a drink.

What?

Isn't that how you say it?

What are you doing?

- Resting.

- I thought you wanted a drink.

How about a mimosa

for my little samosa.

This is The Ramrod,

not the Rainbow Room.

Yes, and on that note,

you and Giles...

...really need to come up with

another location for your first meeting.

Can you imagine? Giles' mother at

The Ramrod. Imagine my mom here.

Yeah, well, your mother's different.

She's Muslim.

From the Third World.

She wouldn't understand.

I'm Muslim.

I'm from the Third World.

But you're a sophisticated,

elegant young man.

Looking marvelous, by the way.

Let's undo this button.

Only the truly stylish

can manage rumpled elegance.

Go on. Show them.

What?

Oh, dear.

Nuru, what is it?

It's okay.

She's crying tears of joy.

She's overcome with happiness.

Is that right, Nuru?

Are you crying tears of joy?

Are you overcome with happiness?

I want...

I want three kinds of pulao.

Look what that boy's driven her to.

A poor, lonely widow,

sobbing into a duck.

Swan. This is a swan.

All that "finding himself" nonsense.

In England.

Nuru, did you find yourself

in England?

They don't even take showers.

In the bathtub in your own filth.

What will you find?

- It's time for the boy to come home.

- Enough.

No, Dolly, it's not enough.

Nuru...

...Alim's been slipping away

since he was born.

As a baby, he learned "bye-bye"

before he learned "hello." Remember?

Khaled, go inside.

Your auntie's not well.

Auntie, if you want to go to London

to see Alim...

...I can buy you a ticket, any time.

- Tonight, if you want.

- Khaled, please.

No, Dolly.

It's my turn to win now.

Time for me to win.

The first time I saw him,

he was dancing to this song.

You're very lucky.

You know what's the matter

with you, Giles?

What?

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

Oh, babe.

He and his fiance both adore me.

He and his fiance both adore me.

They love it when I come and visit.

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Ian Iqbal Rashid

Ian Iqbal Rashid (born in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania) is a poet, screenwriter and filmmaker known in particular for his volumes of poetry, for the BBC TV series This Life and the feature films Touch of Pink and How She Move. His current projects include creating television series in many genres for international markets. In the U.S., Rashid is currently developing a police procedural television series for Lionsgate Television and Showtime Network. He is also creating a historical miniseries set in East Africa for Sonar Entertainment. In Canada, he is developing a medical drama series for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. And in the UK, he is writing a romantic comedy series for ITV. Of Indian ancestry, Rashid's family lived in colonial and post-colonial East Africa for generations. In his early childhood, his family was forced to leave Tanzania. After failing to secure asylum in the UK and US, they settled in Canada. Rashid began his career as an arts journalist and critic and events programmer, particularly focussed on South Asian diasporic, Muslim and LGBTQ cultural work. In the late 1980s, Rashid was a regular contributor to the Canadian LGBT magazine Rites, and the cultural journals "Fuse" and "TSAR". He published the poetry collection Black Markets, White Boyfriends and Other Acts of Elision, and made the short documentary film Bolo Bolo!. The film, part of an HIV/AIDS educational series called The AIDS Cable Project, resulted in the series being pulled from Rogers Television after complaints about sexually suggestive content, though it had a long and healthy life at film festivals.In the early 1990s, Rashid returned to London, Britain, where he lives today with his partner, the writer and curator Peter Ride. Touch of Pink, his first feature film, spent 12 years in development. In 2003, he finally had the chance to direct the project as a Canada-UK co-production. It premiered at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival to great acclaim, a bidding war, and eventually, a sale to Sony Picture Classics. How She Move received a similar reception at Sundance Film Festival. Directed by Rashid in 2007, the film is set in the world of step dancing. It was nominated for a Sundance World Cinema Grand Jury Prize and purchased by Paramount Vantage. The film opened to great reviews and strong box office: another indie success story to emerge from Sundance. Self-taught as a film-maker, Rashid began his career in the late 1990s, working as a writer in UK television. His credits include the soap, London Bridge (Carlton Television for ITV), and the cult hit BBC2 series This Life for which he received the Writer's Guild of England award. Rashid has written two award-winning short films, Surviving Sabu (1999, Arts Council of England) and Stag (2001, BBC Films). He wrote and read his short story "Muscular Bridges" for BBC Radio 4's HMS Windrush Anniversary. For BBC's Woman's Hour Programme, Rashid wrote and directed Leaving Normal, a comedy serial about gay adoption starring Imelda Staunton and Meera Syal.Rashid has written three award-winning books of poetry. The most recent is The Heat of Yesterday. His poems "Another Country", "Could Have Danced All Night", "Hot Property" and "Early Dinner, Weekend Away" appear in John Barton and Billeh Nickerson's 2007 anthology Seminal: The Anthology of Canada's Gay Male Poets.He has also curated film programmes and exhibitions for venues such as the National Film Theatre, the Institute of Contemporary Arts and Experimenta. He was the founder and first director of Desh Pardesh, Canada's first arts festival focusing on diasporic South Asian arts and culture. Amongst many awards and festival prizes, Rashid has received the Aga Khan Award for Excellence in the Arts. Ian was selected as one of 2010's Breakthrough Brits on the prestigious UK Film Council (BFI) programme. more…

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