Dastaar

In the weeks after 9/11, a Sikh man and his white girlfriend travel to New York to visit his father who was beaten up in a religiously motivated attack.

The plot sounds like a road movie, but really it is limited to pretty much 4 locations, and the journey does not go much further than the gas station. The man is very aware that he is being viewed with suspicion, or at least he very much feels he is – particularly following his father's attack as a Muslim. This is based on real situations – unsurprising when one considers that the type of person who would attack someone for being a particular religion, probably is not the most au fait with telling them apart (or interested in finding out). At the same time his white girlfriend doesn't notice this – she has no frame of reference for being viewed in this way, or being an outsider in any way.

The film may be very simple in terms of scale and scope, but what it does well is capture both these characters in a way that accepts them without going overboard. On one hand the film highlights that feeling of being on edge and of being on the outside through no fault of his own; however at the same time it doesn't attack the female lead for white privilege. It would be too easy for this latter point to have been done but the film is stronger for showing us the difference in life experience, and acknowledging that neither is the person's fault – it just is that way. The focus is on the tension in the male lead though, and his inability to really articulate it or to fully deal with the confrontation it causes. It is a small moment but it says a lot, and this scene is the whole film.

In its simplicity it is effective and surprisingly smart for how light in content it is. Well worth a look.