Sheer Qorma to be presented by MasterChef Australia finalist Kishwar Chowdhury at Melbourne

The short film Sheer Qorma will be screened at the upcoming Indian Film Festival of Melbourne.

Starring Shabana Azmi, Divya Dutta and Swara Bhaskar, the LGBTQ romance has been written and directed by Faraz Arif Ansari. The film will be presented at the event by MasterChef Australia finalist, Kishwar Chowdhury.

The website Siasat Daily quoted Chowdhury as saying, “I am eagerly awaiting to watch Faraz Arif Ansari’s Sheer Qorma. There is so much hype and excitement around the world for Faraz’s film. Anyone I speak to about it is anticipating and excited to watch it. I know how difficult it is to share and portray through cinema a subject matter that is so close to Faraz’s heart.”

She added, “As a society, we hide away some crucial parts of ourselves away. Those are the stories that most importantly need to be told, to be captured, and be given a voice. Sheer Qorma is a film that champions a story like this. Faraz has boldly captured emotions through a story that tugs at your heart and that so many people around the world were waiting to see, something so real. Thank you Faraz for being brave, for being vulnerable, and for bringing this film to life. I’m glad to be a part of this journey and present it at the Indian Film Festival Melbourne.”

Although the festival was scheduled to be held in a hybrid format, due to the lockdown announced on 5 August in the city, the in-cinema programme has been cancelled. However, the online programme will open on 15 August as per schedule.

A celebration of films from India, the festival will feature several films from independent cinema including Barah by Barah (2021), the Assamese feature Boroxun (2021), the Marathi feature Awakash and the Bengali film Abhijaan (2021). The festival is also celebrating the Satyajit Ray centenary by featuring the films Ghare Baire (1984) and Ganashatru (1989) for online streaming.

Mainstream Hindi films Bell Bottom (2021), Bhuj (2021), Ludo (2020) and Lootcase (2020) were scheduled to be screened in cinemas. It remains to be seen how the programming will adjust to the in-cinema films not being screened in cinemas.