Fatima Sana Shaikh’s next screen appearance might be her most tender yet. In Manish Malhotra’s Gustaakh Ishq – Kucch Pehle Jaisa, she plays Minni, a bright, middle-class girl whose capacity for love shapes the emotional core of the film.
Set in the fading kothis of Punjab and the lived-in lanes of Purani Dilli, Gustaakh Ishq tells a love story steeped in the warmth of old-school romance. Directed by Vibhu Puri, the film also stars Vijay Varma, Naseeruddin Shah, and Sharib Hashmi, with music by Vishal Bhardwaj and lyrics by Gulzar.
Minni isn’t written as a grand heroine but she’s a woman you know, she – like many of us – carries dreams that don’t always fit her world. Fatima says that’s what drew her in. “Minni reminded me of so many girls I’ve known, who are strong, grounded, quietly hopeful. She’s someone who believes in love, but on her own terms. There’s dignity in her stillness,” she said.
The film’s mood harks back to a gentler time, of chai, shayari and unspoken longing. Vibhu Puri calls Minni the “heartbeat of Gustaakh Ishq.”
Vibhu said, “Fatima is the beating heart of the film. There’s something disarmingly human about the way she makes silence feel like dialogue.”
With producer Manish Malhotra and his brother Dinesh Malhotra, holding the reins of what is Malhotra’s first outing, Gustaakh Ishq bridges his love for cinema, design, and emotion. With Naseeruddin Shah as a soulful shayar and Vijay Varma as a man learning the language of poetry, Minni’s story unfolds in the spaces between their words and worlds.
Gustaakh Ishq feels like a reminder that old-school love still has a place on the big screen and that itself is the most audacious thing about it.
The film releases in theatres on November 28.
