I’ve noticed a lot of Bollywood-type films starting to gain momentum in America in the last decade or so. My favorites are Slumfog Millionaire and most recently Monkey Man. The latest Bollywood-type film that has gained some prominence in America is The Queen of My Dreams by director Fawzia Mirza. She tackles two separate stories of coming of age in multiple eras very impressively. People of any background should be impressed by her very fine achievement. 

This film focuses on two women in two different eras. One in the present-day Azra (Amrit Kaur) and one in the late 60s, 70s, and 80s. Mariam (Nimra Bucha). She is also the mother of the Azra character in the present day. The film splits time between the two coming of age in Pakistan and Canada where they lived at the beginning of the movie. The two are more alike than they care to admit. They both have a love for Bollywood cinema, and they are also going through their share of growing pains in their various eras.

I liked the juxtaposition of the two women in their various time periods. They both had to do things they were working through while also trying to represent their culture respectfully. They are different in the end though. The time they came of age proves that. Today is much different than back in the 60s-80s. How the movie is filmed is a prime example of this. The ’60s-80s looked completely different from modern-day India where the family travels for a funeral of a loved one and Canada where they live.

The ’60s-80s was a vivid color palette of orange,  pink, green, and blue, especially in Pakistan. It was a gorgeous vibrant part of the film. The Canadian part was a little different but looked equally beautiful despite the cold aspects of the climate. The production design and cinematography were in full bloom like flowers as they say. That’s how beautiful these segments of the movie were. As a bonus, there was wonderful music that matched these sequences perfectly. I loved the flashback scenes the most because I’m a sucker for period-piece films.

The modern-day stuff with Kaur’s character trying to get respect from her mother and fit into a world she has forgotten was harder for me to get into. She has a secret she’s been keeping from her mother and this is an overlying story point. The film wants to say these two are more alike than they both seem, but they also are very much different. One wants to be a mother and family person and the other wants to be a free spirit and do what she wants away from the prying eyes of her mother. The thing is that’s what the mother wanted decades before. That’s why she moved to Canada with her husband Hassan (Hamza Haq). The writing is very good in this regard.

I was very impressed by Amrit Kaur as an actress in this movie. They have to play two different characters and be effective in giving two separate performances with the audience knowing it’s the same actress playing both roles as younger Mariam and Azra. She pulls this off impeccably well. I’ve seen actors and actresses play multiple roles in films before,  but they’re not always effective in pulling off double or triple duty. Kaur was though. She kept me interested in her throughout the movie playing both characters. She’s a young actress to watch in the future for sure.

Queen of My Dreams is an excellent coming-of-age film set in multiple eras of time. It deals with love and compassion but in different ways.  The 60s-80s stuff is gorgeous and creates an entirely different tone to go with it. The modern-day stuff has a very serious, more complicated tone to go with it. Amrit Kaur is amazing as both Azra and younger Miariam in the movie. The director Mirza shows these two women in different ways, but they are more alike than they think. Their love of Bollywood cinema, a specific Indian actress, and the film they constantly watch over and over again proves that. This is a film I was glad I watched because I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it.

3 ½ stars

Dan Skip Allen