Pakistani film Josh leaves a powerful impact on Toronto filmgoers

 Iram parveen Bilal's visual masterpiece evokes empathy and nostalgia

Cinema is a powerful medium. It allows a visual craftsman to instil thought provoking understanding of some aspects of the social environment around us. 

The successful Pakistani independent filmmaker Iram Parveen Bilal effectively builds this larger than life cinematographic experience with the use of images, sounds and then post processes and edits them to create a view that sparks an intellectual thought process of emotions. 

Josh (English title: Against The Grain) is a story of a privileged woman whose life is shattered in a single moment. It is the story of a woman in search for a dangerous truth. It is the story of the biggest challenge to Pakistan’s still reigning feudalism: the country’s youth. The film explores the internal debates the young are struggling with, and how solutions can be attainable if and when they stand united. 

The film has an interesting ensemble of some of the finest actors from the Pakistani entertainment industry, who include Aamina Sheikh, Mohib Mirza, Khalid Malik, Navin Waqar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Salim Mairaj, Kaiser Khan Nizamani, Nyla Jafri, Parveen Akbar, Ali Rizvi and Faizan Haqquee. 

As the camera sets rolling, right from the first frame, one can’t miss and not comment on the brilliant camera work and cinematography. The locations, shots and above all the way Karachi has been captured had some viewers commenting, “I want to go back and see Karachi again…”