Material

Cassim, his dad and mum pulled this one off very well. Great emotional and honest acting.

The storyline was well thought of and is one that anyone living in a multi-racial/multi-religious environment would gel with. The power of religion intertwined with tradition is best seen in the family drama during the wedding and when Ebrahim gets to visit the bar where his Cassim is performing.

His reaction upon being touched by the gatekeeper lady to be stamped on the hand was priceless!!

Kudos team! This is a must-watch movie.

Finally South Africa has made a film that touches the human heart, this film transgresses racial divides and talks to the universal human insights we can all relate to.

The film is a great mix of comedy, stand up and real drama that we all face in our day to day lives.

Riaad Moosa gives a performance that is honest and sincere, there's great cinematography and superb direction in all the characters and performances.

This film is a must see by all South Africans and anyone who loves great storytelling!

Like everybody else, my expectations of SA films are low (not for lack of talent but for their leaning towards the overly emotional or slapstick.'Material' really surprises and strikes that delicate balance of being at once, thought provoking, touching and funny. Particularly noteworthy is its restraint, which prevents it from becoming clichéd and bollywood-like, making it a universal but South African story. Acting was excellent all round, the script was great and the cinematography was brilliant(Fordsburg was an equally forceful character in the film and I particularly loved the shots from within the store as the light peers in,when the store shutters are rolled up every morning, emphasizing the act as a ritual), but it was the absolutely brilliant score that stood out the most for me. Great job all round...

Guys, sorry to say – You might have produced the movie but its owned by us South African's, you know that feeling: its like when we hosted the Soccer World Cup, when we won the Rugby World Cups and when the Proteas recently batted those caps black in NZ. Its a good feeling, a proud one.

I think, ask anyone who has watched the movie, describe their emotions and feelings and their response would somewhat be the same as mine.

About 7 years ago HSBC ran an advert that concluded: When was the last time you did something for the first time? Or in this case experienced something for the first time ?

For me, I watched the movie MATERIAL – I now believe we can produce premium movies and that we are blessed with actors that are so talented – for example nobody else could play Cassim other than Riaad, just like Green Goblin played by Willem Dafoe, Spiderman. And of course for the first time, a story had been told of an Indian community that was not slapstick.

I get nervous when I hear that a new "South African" movie is being made. With all due respect and love, years of "Mr. Bones" sequels have left me skeptical about the ability of the SA film industry to produce world class stories.

You'll understand then why I curtailed my enthusiasm ahead of seeing Ronnie Apteker's new feature, Material. The SA film industry doesn't produce movies all that often and so when they do, there's a crap ton of hype to go with them. Everybody wants you to rally around the new film, hoping that you won't notice that it's not all that good and celebrate nonetheless because "local is lekker."

Ronnie's previous movies were cool, but he'll forgive me for saying that they weren't extraordinary. "Straight out of Benoni" struck a chord with me only because I grew up in Benoni, but it was still little more than experimental fun, and Footskating 101 was somewhat forgetful.

Material is different though. From the very first shot the movie is sincere and absorbing in its attempt to tell an ancient story of the struggle between tradition, culture, religion and modernism.

Cassim Kaif (played by multi-talented comedian and medical doctor Riaad Moosa) is a budding comedian who spends his daylight hours keeping the struggling Kaif family fabric shop in Fordsburg afloat, alongside his stubborn and old-fashioned father, Ebrahim (played by Vincent Ebrahim.)

The story is a familiar one. Cassim must balance his love and respect for his family and their faith while discovering his giftedness as an entertainer in a secular environment. He leads this double life with the help of his best friend Yusuf (played by Joey Rasdien) but all comes to a head when his family discovers the truth.

This sounds pretty serious, doesn't it? Well it is, but this relatively earnest tale is expertly interwoven with countless genuinely hilarious moments, which one could only expect from a movie written by people like Riaad Moosa and Ronnie Apteker (among others.) Those who have had the pleasure of meeting Ronnie will appreciate and testify to his brilliant sense of humour and all round appreciation for the lighter side of life, while Riaad is widely recognized as one of South Africa's top comedians. As a result Material is hard to categorise. It's all at once a fantastic comedy and gripping drama, something we seldom see in SA.

The film is not perfect, but is carried on the brilliant leading performances delivered by Vincent Ebrahim and Riaad Moosa. In fact Moosa surprises with his acting chops – is there anything this guy can't do? The script is solid and the supporting performances are endearing. All in all Material is a massive leap forward in local cinema, and hopefully a sign of things to come.

Go see Material. It works because it is a story about the things that matter most in life; love, family, forgiveness, reconciliation, perseverance and of course, hilarious laughter. At worst you will be supporting local cinema. At best, it will change the way you see the world.