| Plot Synopsis Canadian writer/director Ian Iqbal Rashid makes his feature film debut with the romantic comedy Touch of Pink. Jimi Mistry plays Alim, an young gay Ismali-Canadian living in a fashionable section of London. He has an active fantasy life involving Kyle MacLachlan, who appears as the charming ghost of Cary Grant. Alim also has an active social life in the real world with his actual boyfriend Giles (Kristen Holden-Ried). His life of leisure is interrupted when his mother Nuru (Suleka Mathew) arrives in town unexpectedly from Toronto. She also has a secret plan to take him back with her to Canada so he can settle down and find a nice Muslim girl to marry. Touch of Pink premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. - Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide Reviews PAM GRADY Reel.com Pay attention to the title of Ian Iqbal Rashid's big-hearted coming-out comedy, Touch of Pink. The similarity to the name of the Doris Day-Cary Grant romance That Touch of Mink is purely intentional as Rashid fuses his love for classic Hollywood with the modern tale of a young gay man of East Indian extraction caught between family expectations and being true to himself. Early in the movie Alim's (Jimi Mistry) aunt Dolly (Veena Sood) tells her sister, the boy's mother, Nuru (Suleka Mathew), that "Alim's been slipping away from us since he was born." She reminds Nuru that Alim's first word was "Goodbye." Several years back, Alim fled Toronto for London where he works as a stills photographer for film productions and lives with his English lover, Giles (Kristen Holden-Reid). His family knows nothing about his life and that's the way the closeted Alim wants it. But with his cousin Khaled (Raoul Bhaneja) is getting married and much to Alim's dismay, Nuru invites herself to London for a visit, all the better to pressure her only child into settling down with a proper Muslim bride and starting a family. The question confronting Alim is whether or not he can get through his mother's visit without her discovering his secret. Well, if Alim's constant companion, the spirit of Cary Grant (Kyle MacLachlan) has anything to say about it, that will be a piece of cake. The closet is where Alim must stay and Cary aims to keep him there. The trouble is Cary, who makes a fine, if imaginary, friend for doing things with, like, say, watching old Cary Grant movies on TV, is a disaster when it comes to giving life advice. By actively encouraging Alim to stay in the closet, he only makes matters worse, leading Alim to alienate both his mother and Giles. There are serious issues of colliding cultures and standing up for oneself at hand in Touch of Pink, but writer-director Rashid wraps them in a candy-coated valentine. From Nuru's purchase of a suit that pays homage to her idol Doris Day to Alim and Cary's self-absorbed monologues while he and Alim watch his old movies Suspicion and Gunga Din, this is a movie for people in love with the movies, particularly Hollywood movies of a certain era. At times, the whole confection seems destined to fall apart, as there are moments that are too cute by half, only to be rescued by the grounded performances of Mistry and Mathew as the conflicted son and mother who are more alike than either cares to admit. MacLachlan has the most difficult role in trying to inhabit a larger-than-life character that every movie lover knows well and he pulls it off by emphasizing Grant's warmth and humor. That the actor is so very wrong about Alim is part of Cary's charm. When it comes to arranging for happy endings, even the stars aren't infallible. JAMES PLATH DVD Review Hollywood meets Bollywood in this clever and charmingly inclusive homage to Doris Day, Cary Grant, and 1950s bedroom farces. Director Ian Iqbal Rashid says in one of the extras that he loved those films, but felt alienated because there wasn't someone like him in them-meaning, someone Indian and gay. With Touch of Pink, he vicariously inserts himself, achieving just the right tone, pacing, visual style, and casting to make his allusions to That Touch of Mink and other Day and Grant films resonate in a fun way. This is no Birdcage that keeps actors trapped in flamboyant stereotypes, and there are no drag queens, a la To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar. Rashid's characters are refreshingly normal and engagingly fresh. Jimi Mistry and Kristen Holden-Reid have great chemistry as Alim and Giles, a couple celebrating the anniversary of a relationship still slightly precarious because of Giles' wandering eye and endless list of exes. The comic relief is provided by Alim's Uncle Hassam (Seinfeld alum Brian George) and by Suleka Mathew as Alim's Muslim mother, Nuru, and Veena Sood as Aunt Dolly. The sisters are especially hilarious, at one point sharing a split-screen telephone conversation, as Day did with Rock Hudson in Pillow Talk. Allusions like that aren't just window dressing; the Day formula is woven tightly into the structure of the film. We discover that Nuru left her young son with her sister after her husband died, drawn to London and the allure of becoming "like Doris Day." While she was off on her Day-tripping fantasy, Alim was developing a movie fixation of his own. Like Woody Allen's hapless character who gets advice from the spirit of Humphrey Bogart in Play It Again, Sam, Alim has enjoyed the companionship and wry counsel of Cary Grant's ghost ever since Mom traumatized him by leaving. Each time we see Grant (Sex and the City's Kyle MacLachlan, he's wearing a different outfit that invites viewers to guess which film it's from. But as with Bogie, the gimmick of Grant offering advice can wear a little thin-and even the suave Grant doesn't have the answers when Nuru goes to London hoping to convince her son to return home to Toronto to attend his cousin's wedding. Alim feels compelled to play it "straight," but in doing so he uncomfortably crams Giles into the closet again. The results are disastrous, but Rashid's script makes even the farcical seem natural. Rashid is joined on a commentary track by Mistry and MacLachlan, and the three of them have a grand time of it-so much so that viewers might feel like outsiders at times. But Rashid also explains the many allusions to '50s sex comedies and points out such private indulgences as his boyfriend sitting as an extra in the background of a caf� scene, and "all my relatives" in the wedding scene, angling to get in front of the camera. The "making of" feature is disappointing, though, because it's little more than a TV promo, a superficial teaser rather than a behind-the-scenes documentary. "Touch of Pink" was a low-budget film, but it has great production values, mastered in High Definition, with clear and vibrant colors on 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. Victor Borge once quipped that he knew Doris Day before she was a virgin. As wholesome and healthy as Touch of Pink is, it's still not as squeaky-clean as the Day jobs, which arguably started with Teacher's Pet (1958), co-starring Clark Gable. Then came Pillow Talk (1959) and Lover Come Back (1961) with Hudson, That Touch of Mink (1962) with Grant, The Thrill of It All and Move Over, Darling (both 1963) with James Garner, Send Me No Flowers with Hudson again, and Do Not Disturb (1965) and The Glass Bottom Boat (1966) with Rod Taylor. Though Grant's suave presence pops up throughout Rashid's film, it's the peppy spirit and formula of those Day bedroom romps that gives it heart. And ironically, it works both ways. With Touch of Pink, Rashid breathes new life into an old, rosy-cheeked genre. Awards Best Supporting Actor (nom) - Kyle MacLachlan -2004 Genie Awards Film Presented- -2004 Sundance Film Festival |
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| TOUCH OF PINK 2003 - Canada - 92 min. - Feature - Color Director - Ian Iqbal Rashid |
| Genre / Type - Fantasy, Comedy, Romantic Comedy, Gay & Lesbian Films Flags - Profanity, Sexual Situations MPAA Rating - R Keywords - boyfriend, homosexual, Muslim, imaginary-friend, secret-life Themes - Mothers and Sons, Culture Clash, Questioning Sexuality Tones - Bright, Madcap, Fanciful, Urbane, Affectionate, Witty Moods - Mood Enhancers, Fantastic Reality Set In - London, England Produced by - Martin Pope / Sienna Films Release - Jul 16, 2004 (USA - Limited) Premiere - 2004 01 19 (Sundance Film Festival) Released by - Alliance Atlantis Communications / Sony Pictures Classics MPAA Reasons - for sexual content and brief language DVD Street Date - Jan 11, 2005 Languages - English Subtitles - English Spanish POR ZH KO TH JAPANE Screen Format - Widescreen Sound - Dolby Digital 5.1 Aspect Ratio - 1.85:1 (DVD) Studio - Columbia TriStar Cast Jimi Mistry -- Alim Kyle MacLachlan -- Cary Grant Kristen Holden-Reid -- Giles Suleka Mathew -- Nura Brian George -- Hassan Veena Sood -- Aunt Dolly Raoul Bhaneja -- Khaled Liisa Repo-Martell - Delia |
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