ATTRACTION, INTERACTION,
& REACTION IN INDIA

They cook, they eat, they pray, they sleep, they ride motorcycles, they text, they wash, warn, and worry. Most of these actions by the people in We Are Faheem & Karun, set in India, are mundane day-to-day doings without much scintillating accompanying dialogue — “Let’s go and eat kabobs. I’m hungry”; “We do not use plastic containers”; “Winter will be here in no time.” Much of the true drama doesn’t involve spoken words between the title characters – young men who feel an instant mutual attraction when Faheem (Mir Tawseef) is stopped at a border checkpoint and checked out by guard Karun (Akash Menon). They lock eyes and smile each time Faheem crosses this spot near the India/Pakistan border and they hope for more.

Friendly, flirtatious Faheem is staying with his family, but he and the guard must be on their guard. Pursuing passion and a potential same-sex relationship can’t be easily spoken about there. Homosexuality was not decriminalized in India until 2018, (The story takes place soon after, we know, because there is a quick reference to COVID-19). Beyond the being closeted and the presence of homophobia, there’s also the fact that other prejudices, politics, and presumed locked-in loyalties, based on history and traditions, are possible hurdles as the fellows are from different backgrounds – ethnically, socially, and religiously.

Written by director Onid with Fawzia Mirza, occasionally there’s a pithy line, such as the comment by Faheem’s loving mother (Sana Javeid) as she and her son sit looking at the river, and she remarks that this body of water was given one name by their people and another name by the enemy, but that seems insignificant: “What does the river care? It keeps flowing,” she says. This recalls lines from the classic song from the 98-year-old musical Show Boat, referring to the Mississippi River: “Ol’ man river… What does he care if the world’s got troubles..? He just keeps rollin’ along.” The film, at just under 75 minutes, also just keeps rolling along, sometimes leisurely, sometimes feeling slow during those parts when verbiage and activities seem bland or in the stretches when there are practically no words in the English subtitles except descriptions of sounds — “Bike engine comes to a halt”; “phone notification bell rings”; “sheep bleating”).

In the swaths of near-silence, a movie viewer will have the compensation of taking in cinematographer Ramananda Sarkar‘s gorgeous views of the vast valleys and the village local color and whatever’s passed on the side of the road during motorcycle trips, walks, and a hike. (Having the audience see the scenery seems a special priority, starting from the get-go when Faheem is traveling on his motorcycle for four full minutes of screen time while name after name after name is superimposed – mostly the categories of credits reserved for the end of a movie.

Patience is rewarded if you wait for the more involving moments – and they do come — as you hope that Faheem and Karun really might get involved beyond one giving the other apples, furtive but knowing glances, a touch of fingers as tentative contact (and apparently contact information, since they text each other, largely due to the reality that actually meeting in public on purpose carries risk). Some aspects of the story are not crystal clear, as a couple of key scenes with the couple together shift to another event without a definitive ending/exit.

Despite the frustrations, minor characters and minor incidents with minor impact, there are indeed lovely and loving moments in the acting and direction, a sweet and uber-romantic original song (Deep Pradhan, composer; Amitabh Bhattacharya, lyrics), realistically bittersweet emotion, the suspense that comes from an unpredictable storyline, and satisfyingly banishing stereotypes and oversimplifying. One must also admire the perseverance of the filmmakers for managing to get this done against the odds: It’s based on a true story of a member of the army in India, but, in seeking approval from “the powers that be” in India, the army got offended, the expected funding got pulled, the crew size got very reduced, requiring much multi-tasking, etc. (The “Karun” character was changed from army member to border guard instead.)

The capable cast includes Mir Tawseef (Faheem), Akash Menon (Karun),  Sana Javeid (Mother). It’s directed and produced by Onid who shares screenwriting credit with Fawzia Mirza. Plans are in the works for future films involving some of these characters and themes.

We Are Faheem & Karun
East Coast Premiere
screened at NewFest 37 on October 17, 2025
75 Mins | 2024 | India
in Kashmiri, Urdu, Hindi, and Malayalam with English subtitles
more info at Letterboxed