A film for all Deccani Souls

Hyderabad is much more than just Charminar, Golconda or biryani, believes Kaz Rahman, who is smitten by the Deccani culture. The Canadian film director, whose father hails from Hyderabad, has sought to bring out the lost culture of the Nawabi city through his latest film, Deccani Souls.

“It was inspired by the crumbling yet, beautiful architecture of Hyderabad,” he said during an interaction with the media here on Tuesday. The movie takes the viewer on a journey back in time into a dreamland called Hyderabad through the protagonist, Hamza. “It captures the essence of the city through two Hyderabadis who go in search of their own destiny,” explained the director who shot the film mostly on location in the city so as not to miss its aesthetics. “We shot at less known locations like the ruins near the Qutb Shahi tombs,”

he added. Deccani Souls also deals with Operation Polo, which took place in 1948. Babu, one of the characters, who plays the role of a census collector, goes from door-to-door to get people to sign away the forgotten scars of the operation. “The other character around whom the movie revolves is an Urdu poet Sadiq. He suffers from the dreaded writer’s block and goes in search of a lost essay written by his grandfather,” said Rahman.

“The movie’s mood is meloncholic. It was a different culture and lifestyle before 1948. I used information from the Sunderlal Report about Operation Polo,” said Rahman. The director said work on the movie began long

ago, and that post-production had taken longer than expected. “Also I chose non-professional actors this time. So for a poet, I chose MA Sadiq, who is an Urdu poet,” said Kaz.

Deccani Souls will be screened at Public Gardens on August 30 and at Prasad’s Film Lab preview theatre, Banjara Hills on September 2.