Salesman Nasir lives a contended life with his mother Fatima, wife Taj and mentally handicapped nephew Iqbal in a closely populated ghetto. Employed in an apparel shop at the heart of a busy city, the middle-aged Nasir is a hard worker. He speaks humorously and makes others laugh. On Sundays, he composes poems along the lines of Hindi film songs of the 60s. He smokes ten Beedis a day and drinks four cups of tea. He goes for his mid-day prayers occasionally. As his day unfolds we find him to be a nimble romantic, marshaling a love of love, song, children, friendship, and even God to rise into something resembling a life well lived. But Nasir is also a Muslim in South-India, where Hindu nationalism has taken on ever more virulent forms in recent decades. NASIR is a candid exposé of life as a second-class citizen, living in a toxic intolerant society on the edge of inevitably exploding.

More information

Arun Karthick, born 1992, is an independent filmmaker based in Coimbatore/Tamil Nadu. Self-taught, he began producing and directing short films from the age of 17. He finished his debut feature SIVAPURANAM (THE STRANGE CASE OF SHIVA) with a “Gap Financing Award” at Film Bazaar 2014 and the film premiered at 2016 Rotterdam International Film Festival in the “Bright Future” section. NASIR is his second feature, supported by the Hubert Bals Fund for script development and the NFF+HBF co-production fund.

Awards: Netpac Award (Rotterdam International Film Festival, Netherlands 2020), Grand Prix for Best Feature Film (Andrey Tarkovsky International Film Festival “Zerkalo”, Ivanovo/Russia 2020)