'Mantostaan' director's next a satire on Islam, music

New Delhi: Director Rahat Kazmi, known for films like "Mantostaan" and "Side A Side B", is now waiting to bring his new project "Rabbi", a satire on whether Islam allows music or not, to the audience next month.

"Rabbi" is set in Kashmir.

Talking about it, Kazmi said in a statement: "'Rabbi' is a satirical narration that tugs at your heartstrings, dealing with the clash of ideologies of the liberal, educated, modern Muslims and their conservative counterparts. The film focuses on love towards God instead of fear.

"I know I will raise more than few eyebrows, but filmmaking is all about making your voice heard, just the way I did in 'Mantostaan' with my cinematic representation of Saadat Hasan Manto's controversial stories weaved into a tale of the searing pain of the partition and the burning hearts that were torn apart by the line drawn across India, slicing it into India and Pakistan."

His film tells the story of the rise and fall of a young musician essayed by fresh face Furqan Merchant. He will be seen with Bidita Bag, who features in Nawazuddin Siddiqui-starrer "Babumoshai Bandookbaaz".

Kazmi's movie touches a chord with his own upbringing in a family of Sufis and his own experiences and the stand that he chooses to take in life.

Apart from Furqan and Bidita in the lead roles, the film stars Raghubir Yadav, Dolly Ahluwalia, Brijendra Kala, Virendra Saxena, Shoib Nikash Shah, Manini Mishra and Pooja Gupta. Sanjay Amar is the writer.

"Rabbi" is produced by Kazmi, Zeba Sajid and Sanjay Amar, and co-produced by Tariq Khan in association with Mediamark International Corp. Canada, with Zahid Qureshi as line producer.

It is presented by Jitesh Kumar Films and Mujeeb-ul-Hasan of UFI Productions.