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Early on in Divij Roopchand’s coming-of-age short film ‘Mast Qalandar’, the young protagonist Montek's mother asks him what he wants for his thirteenth birthday. “Should I buy you a new cricket bat?” his mother asks. “How about a Lego set?”
“I am not six years old anymore,” comes Montek's curt response.
This brief exchange sets the tone for the 12 minutes that follow. It's the day before Montek's thirteenth birthday, and he wants to cut his hair — an act forbidden by the Sikh faith.
In Sikhism, the religious custom of maintaining unshorn hair — known as 'kesh' — is considered a sign of a man's commitment to and acceptance of God's will. Although many younger men no longer adhere to this custom and cut their hair, and doing so does not excommunicate one from the faith, it is still very much seen as an act of rebellion and an affront to God.
As Montek makes his way through the day, the film follows his search for the tools to enact this quiet rebellion: a pair of scissors. At once a defiant act of self-expression and self-assertion, the cutting of his hair against his mother's wishes — and against one of the core tenets of the Sikh faith — becomes fraught with implications that go beyond the act itself. It becomes about his religious identity as a Sikh, his angst at the edge of adolescence, and his search for and discovery of his self.
Mohammad Samad — who played Mohsin in Nandita Das's Firaaq (2008) and Pandurang in Rahi Anil Barve's Tumbbad (2018) — was cast in a long process involving more than 300 audition tapes, and he is a revelation as Montek. Samad plays the angsty 13-year-old with a self-assuredness bordering on nonchalance, and Ekavali Khanna and Rajesh Tailang both turn in measured performances as Montek's mother Beeba and Masterji — the tailor who lends Montek his scissors — in supporting roles.
A poignant and evocative coming-of-age story, Mast Qalandar — Roopchand's thesis film for the Masters in Filmmaking program at the London Film School — was inspired by an article about a young boy who tattooed himself against his mother's wishes that Roopchand read in The Guardian. According to Roopchand, the mother displayed an "irrational fear of needles and hatred for tattoos", so that even looking at her son was an "insurmountable task". He was fascinated by her character and found her emotional arc relatable as many of his friends went through a similar experience with their parents.
The short film won the Best Student Film Prize at the Manchester International Film Festival, and the Jury Prize for Student Short Film at the Dadasaheb Phalke International Film Festival in 2016.
'Mast Qalandar' is currently streaming on Nowness Asia. Watch the film here.
