‘Saim’s control on the writing and the craft is masterful’: Indian filmmaker Nikkhil Advani on Joyland

It has been months, but yet the impact that Pakistani writer and director Saim Sadiq managed to create with his debut film ‘Joyland’ is still a joy to witness, especially how Indian audiences are praising the filmmaker and the cast for how they tackled a sensitive topic in a beautiful way.

Indian director Nikkhil Advani attended a screening of the film where there was an interactive session with Sadiq, and along with the rest of the cast. Sharing pictures from the full house event, he praised the film as well as Sadiq for his grip on the story and incredible talent as a director:

“We closed the season of Cinema House at G5A foundation with the incredible Joyland. Saim’s control of the writing and the craft is masterful. What bold choices he has made in every department need to be first applauded and then studied.”

He also praised the acting skills of Ali Junejo, Alina Khan, Raasti Farooq:

“Rasti, Alina, and Ali – my god, what performances. We all just sat for a few minutes in stunned silence. Apoorva Charan – more power to you and I know whatever you choose to do in the future is going to be so so special. Thank you.”

The director shared another picture of the completely occupied house, as well as the interactive session held with the cast members

Sadiq, who has been signed with talent agency CAA, had spoken to The Guardian about the inspiration behind his film, when in 2016, he took a semester off from Colombia University where he was completing his Masters, to go back to Lahore and visit theatres. Sadiq recounted how he spent four months visiting exotic theatres, talking to dancers:

“Pakistan has become a bit schizophrenic, it’s a bit bipolar,” revealed Sadiq. “People pray and then they do a lot of things that they’re not supposed to do. There are these weird sort of outlets that people have found to be able to express themselves.”

Speaking on the ban, which was initiated by the Punjab government in 2022, Sadiq said:

“It’s mostly people trying to avoid discomfort that stems from the idea that people have sex. We spend our lives trying to hide our desires and the fact that other people have desires around us.”