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Qissa

Play trailer Poster for Qissa 2013 1h 49m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
88% Tomatometer 16 Reviews 73% Popcornmeter Fewer than 50 Ratings
A Sikh man tries to start a new life for his family while hiding their true identities during the ethnic cleansing in 1947.

Critics Reviews

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Namrata Joshi Outlook 05/18/2015
3/4
One of the most beguiling films of recent times, Qissa captivates even as it confounds. Go to Full Review
Shubhra Gupta The Indian Express 05/18/2015
3.5/5
Full-bodied, satisfying, [and] disturbingly lyrical. Go to Full Review
Clarence Tsui The Hollywood Reporter 05/18/2015
Early promise of a poised and substantial piece gets undermined by a final, inexplicable leap into the paranormal -- an odd denouement for a narrative centered on the very real and corporeal issue of gender-based violence. Go to Full Review
Dipankar Sarkar Vague Visages 09/20/2023
By grounding Qissa in naturalism and avoiding melodramatic tropes, Singh creates a uniquely beguiling viewing experience. Go to Full Review
Joanne Laurier World Socialist Web Site 02/27/2021
Qissa seeks to show, without sensationalizing, how tradition, economic distress and homelessness make Indian families see their daughters as a burden and threat to family honor. Go to Full Review
Tomas Hachard Cinema Scope 10/16/2017
Qissa is most captivating when it treats Kanwar's identity dilemma head on; its best scenes are intimate ones that portray the tempestuous inner turmoil wracking its protagonist. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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09/11/2019 This is a linear tale with multiple identities and diverse layers: something that explore all the variants of love, family, relationship and quite explores the corners of the heart. No Bollywood film has done it yet. But it's title alone makes it stand out of the queue: noticed the 2 titles? Actually, Anup Singh summarizes the story's subversive-ness and its dark undertones with its depiction of the emotional supernatural: someone who is a lonely ghost- or wait- a ghost who is a lonely traveller? Be it any, Tilottama Shome as the ghost here is a total finesse. She carves the account of this man who is stringed into the horrors of identity confusions in a way that is quite remarkable. Irrfan Khan as the aristocratic Umber Singh, is as always: a find, a new character. Divya Dutta ticks the boxes of a dramatic performance, and Rasika Dugal is a find. The film is beyond a fine film: the way it deconstructs its own horrors makes it a fantabulous watch. See more 05/30/2015 Effective story of gender and personal identity in a gender obsessed society. See more 03/28/2015 A fable with its heart in the right place... See more 10/08/2013 Oh my god, wow! This film was stunning and beautiful. I loved how daring this is for a Punjabi film and displays the madness of gender, religion division on the soul of each individual. See more Read all reviews
Qissa

My Rating

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Movie Info

Synopsis A Sikh man tries to start a new life for his family while hiding their true identities during the ethnic cleansing in 1947.
Director
Anup Singh
Producer
Bero Beyer, Nina Lath Gupta, Thierry Lenouvel, Johannes Rexin, Bettina Brokemper
Screenwriter
Anup Singh
Production Co
Heimatfilm, Augustus Film, Ciné-Sud Promotion, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen, National Film Development Corporation of India
Genre
Drama
Original Language
Punjabi
Runtime
1h 49m