Bebaak

The film was such a welcome surprise for me. I'd seen it during the year the film was taken out of MAMI, and I was so angry at MAMI for having taken the film out, because it represented everything that they were saying they stood for. So I was very happy to have seen it and felt so strongly for it. Shazia doesn't seem like a first time filmmaker at all. Assured debut with a firm resolve in the way its told. It helps to have an actor like Nawaz around and also the lead actor was fabulous. Beautiful performances, beautifully shot, art directed, written. Looking forward to SHazia's first feature eagerly. The indie scene needs more such voices.

While writing this, I correct my rating from 8 to 9, because it has now slowly touched a different layer of feeling. This is not only sad for a poor Muslim girl, but for all of us, all isolated people who disdain to be an alienated spectacle. There's no villain here, other than poverty and poor education. The parents are as much a victim of the system, as the provider. A candid look from a kid, a female child, does the magic of revivification, asserting a girl's dignity in the face of gross discrimination. Hat's of to the cast and the crew.

Technologies expand, whatsup and down whats face and whats book we all know, but the slow silent giant gobbles down all our human aspirations. We forget our puny martyrs.

Shazia Iqbal's Bebaak is a proper masterclass in short filmmaking... the sort that leaves you rather stunned long after the credits roll.

This true story follows Fatin, an architecture student facing blatant discrimination during a scholarship interview with a religious trust committee.

Sarah Hashmi delivers an absolutely cracking performance as the determined student challenged by Nawazuddin Siddiqui's stern religious authority for not wearing a hijab. Her defiant expressions and steely resolve make every moment count - it's genuinely gripping stuff.

The screenplay crafts a compelling tale of quiet oppression that feels utterly relevant. The film explores patriarchal control over women's choices, built on systematic theological interpretations demanding female modesty and compliance.

What makes Bebaak brilliant is its restraint: no theatrical melodrama, just quiet resistance simmering beneath the surface. The tension builds through Fatin's internal conflict between financial necessity and personal dignity, creating an atmosphere thick enough to cut with a knife.

It challenges established norms whilst leaving viewers with proper food for thought about societal pressures women face daily.

Rating: 8.5/10 (Essential viewing that proves short films can deliver more impact than most feature-length efforts)

Bebaak based on a true story deals competently with all the three subjects concisely. A muslim man who it seems finds it difficult to raise a family of four bikering kids takes his eldest daughter to a muslim charitable trust which provides finance for education. The girl played convincingly by Sarah Hashmi, wants to pursue architecture. Her meeting with the officer of the trust played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui does not go well because the girl is not wearing hijab. The orthodox officer asks her to come again with proper Muslim attire covering her body and head if she wants to have finance. The applicant girl faces a dilemma as all modern girls must be facing in a gender biased religious society. Will she succumb?

Top class performance by Sarah Hashmi and Nawazuddin makes this short film achieve it's objective; how long will this bigotry persist in modern India?

A powerful short film on a critical social issue that has been made with precise economy - of characters, events, dialogues and acting.