Halal Love Story trailer: Charming comedy of a movie-within-a-movie

Filmmaker Zakariya burst on to the scene with his debut film, the National award-winning Sudani From Nigeria (2018), a heartwarming tale of an unlikely friendship between a hapless football manager Majeed (Soubin Shahir) and a stranded Nigerian footballer Samuel (Samuel Abiola Robinson).

Zakaria's sophomore project, Halal Love Story (2020), looks to replicate that magic. Set once again in a small, tightly knit community, it shows what looks like a bunch of cinephiles come together to make a ‘halal’ feature film, one that would be acceptable to everyone. The villagers contribute in whatever way they can, with one handling the finances and another writing the script.

Slowly but surely, they rope in a director, a crew, and some artistes to put the film together. Of course, there are hilarious hurdles along the way. The lead actor refuses to act without his wife as a co-star, the director is too laidback to direct, and the sound designer (a delightful Soubin Shahir) is deadly serious about his task.

Starring Indrajith Sukumaran, Joju George, Sharaf U Dheen, Grace Antony and Soubin Shahir, the film also features Parvathy Thiruvothu in a cameo. The film is co-written by Zakariya and Muhsin Parari.

Produced by Aashiq Abu, Jesna Ashim and Harshad Ali, Halal Love Story will have a digital world premiere on Amazon Prime on 15 October. Watch the trailer below and let us know if you are keen to watch the film.