The Boy with the Topknot

Extremely well made production from the BBC about a young Indian man wrestling with his conscious. Deeply in love with a white English girl, yet unable to bring himself to tell his his family who want him to marry a nice Indian girl. As he tries to bring himself to tell his family this leads him on to a voyage of discovery about his family which he was previously unaware of. Beautifully written by Mick Ford and Sathnen Saghera and terrific performances throughout. Highly recommend 8/10

This is really three stories in one. It wasn't confusing for me because it's a familiar theme.

Firstly, the toxic environment that traditions and family issues cause including the horror of arranged marriages in some cultures.

Secondly, the awakening of a very successful man to the fact that he's been so obsessed with leaving that very family culture that he's become successful, but also walked blind on some pivotal issues in his life and this includes severe family mental health issues.

Thirdly, a love story which is made complex by toxic cultural issues and which affects the very core of an individual's life and future happiness.

Superbly acted by the male lead. All the cast is excellent. If you don't mind the story being more complex than the usual idiotic and vapid 'ain't families so cutely revolting haha' theme, then this thinking person's family movie is a must watch.

An out of the world performance by Deepti Naval and Anupam Kher. An outstanding tele-film by BBC highlighting the issues that the Indian community can face in UK. The mental health issue which we all try to ignore, try to hide while we tend to mix only within our own community, only within our fellow Indians makes our life harder. The film handles the issue within the Sikh community. For a Muslim, there is another layer of complexity. It is hard hard life out here. I cannot thank enough to BBC for creating this gem of a film.

The Boy with the Topknot is adapted from journalist Sathnam Sanghera's memoirs. A Wolverhampton tale of a second generation immigrant who arrogantly thinks he has made his way in life and love on his own terms

Sathnam (Sacha Dhawan) is a Cambridge University graduate, a journalist and in love with a young white girl. She wants to him to tell about her to his parents. He is reluctant and ends up losing the girl and eventually his job.

Sathnam's mother (Deepti Naval) wants him to marry a nice Punjabi girl. Sathnam never realised what exactly was wrong with his father (Anupam Kher) and why he did not work. His father developed schizophrenia. As he delves further into his family history he discovers that his mum had little choice as to who he married and that her husband had a mental illness which would sporadically result in violent outbursts.

Maybe because this drama is condensed into a 90 minute film it never really got underneath the surface. A drama of a journalist who never uncovered his family's secrets. He could not even speak Punjabi. When he finally communicates in a heartfelt manner to his mum, it falls on deaf ears, she can never understand his desperate pleas.

I was very much looking forward to watching this, as 2016's "my father killed me" was pure drama and the cast in The Boy with the Topknot made it even more appealing. However it was the story or the screenplay that made it confusing to what message Sathnam Sanghera was trying to deliver. At times it felt that it was too jumbled together, he was dealing with a multi racial relationship and then it went in very dark into his fathers mental health which he claimed to not knowing about it then connecting his sister suffering from the same mental health issues. However the best part was when his mother told her story through her friends, this delivered perfect writing. Also it raised my knowledge and appreciation of how families deal with mental health issues. It may have been due to the length of the one off drama it just could not include so much in such short length of time, maybe it should have been a two or three part drama. But also it maybe "My Father Killed Me" rose the bar so high, that I was just expecting much more. Its watchable but it didnt leave me wanting to recommend this as a much watch like "My Father Killed Me"