A Bengali prompted me to make Lihaaf in a bold way: Rahat Kazmi

When Rahat Kazmi, a Kashmiri filmmaker, was in Class X, his biology teacher asked the entire class to read a chapter on reproduction at home. “I knew that any discussion related to sex was taboo, but that was the first time we did discuss it. And that incident probably prompted me to make

Lihaaf

: The Quilt,” he said at a KIFF 2019 press meet.

The film is a period drama based on legendary woman writer Ismat Chugtai’s extremely controversial 1942 story, Lihaaf. Set in the ’40s, the film interweaves the plot about the relationship between two women. “The author had to undergo a trial for obscenity after publishing the story. It is not a film on homosexuality, but ponders on the concept of liberty and freedom of speech,” said Rahat.

Talking about censorship related issues, Rahat said though there have been no film screenings in Kashmir since the ’90s, shooting there is not a problem. “People assume that it’s very difficult for a Kashmiri filmmaker like me to pass censorship, but I had an entirely different experience. I took one of my previous films for censorship and I was almost certain that the film would not pass. After sometime, a censor board member, a Bengali, called me in and not only did he pass the film without cuts, but also congratulated me for the screenplay. When he asked me about my future project, I told him about Lihaaf and he asked me to make it a bold film without thinking about the commercial side. I think only a Bengali can say something like that,” said Kazmi, brimming with passion and confidence.