The Queen Of My Dreams ★★★★

Released: 13th September 2024

Director: Fawzia Mirza

Starring: Amrit Kaur, Nimra Bucha, Hamza Haq, Ali A. Kazmi

Review By: William Reynolds

The generational divide between third culture kids and their parents is brought into sharp focus in Fawzia Mirza’s Bollywood-inspired debut feature. Set in late 90’s Toronto, The Queen of my Dreams explores the fraught mother-daughter relationship of queer Pakistani-Canadian, Azra (Amrit Kaur) and her strict, religious mother, Mariam (Nimra Bucha). Azra is forced to confront this relationship when travelling to Pakistan following the death of her father (Hamza Haq). Their relationship further strains and buckles under the weight of grief as differences in personal values become exacerbated.  

Azra continuously clashes with her mother due to the marked contrast of Pakistani and Canadian values, which bear the hallmarks of many such explorations of East-West divides. One such scene is particularly emotive as Azra is forced to grieve according to the funeral traditions which dictate she can’t journey with her father’s coffin to its burial site. However as the film progresses Azra learns to accept and celebrate her mix of cultural identities, largely with the unexpected help of a Bollywood film she frequently watches, Aradhana. The star of the film Sharmila Tagore is a point of inspiration for her mother also. In Aradhana, Sharmila Tagore takes the role of a woman who sacrifices her own livelihood for her family. It is via their shared love for this film the two begin to develop an understanding of each other, which helps communicate feelings that are difficult to put into words. 

Furthermore, in scenes of Azra’s and Mariam’s pasts we gain further understanding of their lives which provides better context to the present. The expertly crafted 1960’s Karachi flashbacks are saturated in colour and feature gorgeously rendered production design. These scenes show a young and carefree Mariam deemed rebellious by her parents (similar to present-day Azra) struggling to marry the love of her life, Azra’s now deceased father, in a Muslim society built on arranged marriages. While initially the gulf between mother and daughter seems insurmountable, the juxtaposition between the two’s coming of age tales highlight the universality in the coming of age experience and difficulties in navigating the world as a young woman trying to tread your own path. Amrit Kaur also plays the role of young Mariam which only further bolsters this mother-daughter parallel. 

While the exploration of parent-child tensions in immigrant families is not unfamiliar territory The Queen of my Dreams is successful in presenting this common cinematic trope with a unique mixture of eye-popping images and authentic characterisation that spins an emotionally touching tale. The nods to Bollywood steep the film further into the cultural Pakistani touchstones it portrays. Both Azra and Mariam lead their own lives and the film serves as a celebration of both. However it also shows there’s nothing more wonderful than repairing familial relationships by overcoming cultural differences in the pursuit of creating a truly compassionate mother-daughter bond.