Qabool Again

This review is my opinion and contains spoilers.

“When is it ever the right time to fall in love?”

“Intezaar” is a 2022 Pakistani film directed by Sakina Samo starring Samina Ahmed, Khalid Ahmed, Kaif Ghaznavi, Raza Ali Abid, and Adnan Jaffar. A film about an adult daughter and her elderly father accommodating her mother’s suspected final days due to late-stage cancer and dementia, Intezaar does well at intriguing emotions and offering healing moments to consider. As someone who only knows of variations of similar family dynamics, I felt my empathy grow for the people I’ve heard about and their experiences, whether it is through experiences of dementia, terminal cancer, or issues of adult children caring for elderly parents. In equal parts, the film has an impressive balance between drama and fun that is well executed by its production and thematic approaches. While the film does repeat its premise about three times in the beginning, it allows for reflection on the state of its characters and their dilemmas. The film brings humanism to both sides as it explores conflicts in caring for aging parents just as much as it is about the difficulties of living with adult children and placing boundaries on daily life as an aging parent. While disappointments are frequent, others feel each of the main character’s endearing qualities (to different degrees). The mother remembers her son, who hasn’t seen her for fifteen years and does not recognize her daughter, who takes care of her and still feels affection for her daughter. After Ruby (Kaif Ghaznavi) yells at her mother (Samin Ahmed) and is then slapped by her, her mother later apologizes to her, saying, “I feel as though you are my daughter.” Ruby becomes more attentive to her mother’s needs.

The film is self-aware in its approach to finding love in moments of what may seem like inappropriate vulnerability. These moments are hard to watch, but avenues to understand other characters’ perspectives allow an audience member to hold characters accountable for their actions just as much as to value their intentions and drive to rectify their mistakes. The central plot point that ties together past issues and stands as a catalyst for each character’s re-thinking of their relationships with each other happens when Ruby is out with Ali (Raza Ali Abid), the nurse caring for the father, Ruby’s mother has a bleeding accident to which Ruby’s father attends to. Until now, Ruby’s mother has not recognized her husband and Ruby’s father (Khalid Ahmed) and finds him a pain to spend time with. She stays in a different room and considers him the other tenant in the old age home. She often complains to Ruby about him, fed up with his coughing and bitter attitude. So, when she’s changed by a “stranger,” as she tells Ruby, she’s distressed. Ruby apologizes, fully validating her mother’s feelings and deeply frustrated with her father. The following day, the mother speaks about her embarrassment to the father, suggesting that getting married would be the only solution. When Ruby reprimands her father for his previous actions, reminding him that her mother has dementia, her father says, “That’s why I said yes.” Ruby thinks her father is joking about her mother’s condition, considering that he hadn’t shown her mother love up to this time. But he does his best to “woo” the woman he intends to marry again. He tells Ruby that he’s finally fallen in love with her mother, noticing things about her that he never appreciated in her final days. Ruby complains to Ali that her father can’t possibly compensate for his lack of attention to his mother through this upcoming wedding. He tells her that there isn’t an ideal time to fall in love, to which the following scene clarifies that their relationship is quiet and respectful with hints of romance.

Ruby may have difficulty accepting the change in her parents’ relationship because of the parallels between her mother’s and her marriage. Ruby left her husband and sent her young son to live in America. In contrast, her mother metaphorically left the relationship with her husband for some time by forgetting him and also sent her son to live in America. Before feeling seen, Ruby sharply pointed out to her mother that the one person she remembers, her son, Sameer (Adnan Jaffar), had not visited in 15 years. He sends money, but his absence shows he doesn’t care. Ruby essentially tries to tell her mother to stop engaging in delusions as though she were capable of doing so. Ruby spends part of the film planning a trip she will soon take to see her son, but Sameer, who returns to stop the wedding, tells Ruby that her son does not want to see her. Ruby’s mother asks Ruby if she has a son, then tells her that her own will come and take her. Ruby tells her, “Mine, too.”

While the film doesn’t provide answers to ease the stress these situations pose, it shows that love makes them beautiful. I’m unsure if this sentiment would resonate with those living lives adjacent to or identical to the one portrayed. I doubt this sentiment is transparent to the characters throughout the film, whether in unison or individually. The ending gives this feeling of reflection, allowing an audience member a fair amount of space to find closure. It may be a tragedy to some, but it is a kind portrayal of life in many ways.

You can watch “Intezaar” on Prime.