Ashen Streets (2014)

"In 1909, Dr Iqbal wrote his infamous poem, 'Shikwa.' At the time his work caused some outrage and had him labeled blasphemous, it took some time for people to appreciate that their was no disrespect intended by him, but instead his complain...t to his Lord was one that arose from helplessness and confusion. He lived and witnesses a period of great socio-political turmoil, the rise and falls of nations and the decaying fabric of society. The Asian subcontinent was going through the most troublesome period in its history, whilst internationally the geo-political landscape was transforming from Imperial rule to the emergence of the 'Nation State ideology.' Dr Iqbal witnesses the moral values of community, tolerance and kinship eroding and being replaced by ethnic lines of social divide, he saw the advance of capitalism and the race for political and economic control taking over at the cost of humanity and equality. As a storyteller, Shikwa not only inspired me but I saw a tremendous relevance to the world we live in today, in a way Ashen Streets was my way of making the viewer ponder on the realities we face today. However this film is not a visualization of Shikwa but an attempt to make us reflect on our selves and our contribution to society, and how accountable we all are as individuals to the problems faced by the collective.