Just in time for wedding season…we all need a pair of Sabah’s glasses to see through the BS. Because it’s ROUGH out there, sisters, and protecting your peace starts with seeing people’s true colors. 😎
Film: CRITERIA KYA HAI? (2024)
Directed and written by Aneesa Khan
Starring Sidra Syed, Saman Hasan, and Uzma Rizwan
Featuring Maanav Goyal, Uneeb Khan, and Niraj Patel
Welcome to @aneesatalks.llc 🎬 - The stories you recognize, but haven’t seen on screen.
#film #weddingseason #relatable #iykyk #shortfilm
🚨🍿TRAILER RELEASE🍿🚨
🤩Without giving too much away, we’re so happy to share a snippet of our film with y’all.
📲Please LIKE, REPOST, and SHARE! The buzz and outreach of this trailer will help us decide where and when to host our screenings!
🎵Music: “Aa Ve Bana” by @rishamfaizbhutta & @sania.justin.girl
Special thank you to our partners:
💐 @love.letter.design for TOP tier production design
☕️ @drink.khyber for sips and bites
🥞 @lubnastestkitchen for location and FIVE STAR eats
🎭CAST:
@sidrasyed3 as “Sabah”
@samanhasanofficial as “Imaan”
@uzma.rizwan.5680 as “Ammi”
Rizwan Raheel as “Abu”
@vishal.kal as “Kenny”
@ohmer.khan as “Saayem”
@maanavlink as “Suleman”
@watchwithneebz as “Omer”
@nirajpatel_24 as “Arslan”
🎥CREW:
Director/Writer/Producer: @aneesatalks
Executive Producer: Quantbot Technologies
Associate Producer/Director of Photography: @abijeetachar
Line Producer: @thesabway
Unit Production Manager: Sohailla Mahjour
1st AD: @mohini.adkar
2nd ADs: @maanavlink & @rafafarihah
Script Supervisor: @anvitagattani
1st AC: @luciatarro
2nd AC: @_karimemara
Gaffer/DIT/Editor: Mike Canale @tegmental
Key Grip: Jolius Nyren
Grip / Swing: Michael Watts
Production Designer: @omsicles
Sound Recordist: poached_eggy
BTS Photographer: @fs.yousaf
Co-Head of Wardrobe & Styling: @tam.creates
Co-Head of Wardrobe & Styling: @ankinayak_
Hair & Makeup Stylists: Zainab Anwar & @imananwar_
Production Assistant/Extra: @thearishj
Production Assistant/Extra: @sanathsaji_
Production Assistant: @meghan_dhawan
…
#shortfilm #indie #pakistanifilm #pakistaniamerican #nj #southasian #short #nonunion #independentfilm #wrap #production #pk #pakistani #magicalrealism #romcom #dramedy #trailer #trailerlaunch
@aneesatalks just wants to make real art with real people. lose the loud, forced tropes. capture human dynamics that feel undeniably real.
she's out here producing six films a year and demanding we respect each other's time. no transactional friendships. just pure storytelling and building safe, uncompromising sets for south asian creatives.
swipe for the blueprint from one of the hardest working auteurs doing it right now.
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stay tuned.
follow for more.
We sat down with filmmaker @aneesatalks to talk about representation, identity, and what’s still missing in the film industry for Pakistani and Muslim storytellers.
From interning with Coke Studio’s PR team in Karachi at a young age to producing films across the U.S., Pakistan, Qatar, and beyond, Aneesa has built a career rooted in telling stories that center underrepresented voices and female-led narratives.
One of the coolest parts of her journey? Her first film, The Girl With Anklets — an Urdu-language period piece set in 1980s Karachi and filmed in Doha — went on to win Best Cinematography at the Pakistani Film Festival Australia and was selected for six international film festivals.
We also talked about the complexity of diasporic identity, and why authentic Pakistani stories deserve global audiences without being watered down.
Stay tuned for the rest of the interview.
A special shout out to @bkjani for letting us use their space.
Interview by @niharidaddy
Visuals by @garamcreations
They opened with “Allah Hoo” and I immediately melted.
Last night I saw @abisampa and @rushilmusic perform live with the @orchestralqawwaliproject . Six years in the making.
I first found them in late 2020 when they released Man Kunto Maula. I’d just gotten my first filmmaking grant and it was the peak of Covid when I directed and wrote, “The Girl with Anklets.” Set in 1980s Karachi during Zia Ul-Haq’s regime, the story followed a girl pursuing dance, choosing between her modern activist teacher and conservative mother. I knew the music was essential.
I’d grown up listening to qawwali with my family at weddings, replaying CDs with my grandparents. But I’d never heard anything like Abi’s voice paired with Rushil’s composition. Abi is Sri Lankan Tamil, born and raised in London, a trained Carnatic singer who also happens to be a dentist. Rushil is a self-taught composer who initially studied law before discovering music at 19. As a Pakistani American woman in Qatar, making my first film, and struggling with my creative identity, their fusion spoke to what I couldn’t articulate at the time.
When I found them, I dreamt of using their music in my film. The perfect hybridity that reflected my protagonist’s conflict. A voice powerful enough to fight the system. My Brazilian producer’s first response wasn’t “what are they saying?” It was “Do you think we can get it!?” (love you forever @ciaogiordana )
I reached out before their viral fame. Rushil believed in our vision as college students and let us license the track that helped kickstart their journey to working with AR Rahman’s Firdaus Orchestra and selling out the Royal Albert Hall in 2024. The track carried “The Girl with Anklets.” I choreographed several Odissi sequences to it. Those became the best parts.
Last night, everyone experienced something unique. Faces overcome with emotion. Others decoding which instrument played what. The buildup, seeing the diversity on stage. We all felt it. That reaction I had six years ago hasn’t changed, it’s grown.
They’re performing in Toronto again in May. Everyone should experience their music once and there’s still time.
Aneesa Talks produces, directs, writes, and consults on projects that fill gaps in the market.
7 projects produced this past year.
7 filmmakers brought together to share their journeys.
7 gaps in the market being filled.
This is what we mean when we say we spotlight stories that are specific to us and our experiences. More from these conversations coming soon.
🎥: @sarthak_kher
We’re officially in business!! 🎬
Thank you to everyone who came out and made our launch event everything we hoped it would be. Aneesa Talks LLC is here to spotlight South Asian and Muslim talent and narratives. The stories only we can tell because we’ve lived them. The ones you recognize but haven’t seen on screen.
We’re a film and media consulting company working across directing, writing, producing, and social media management. Bring us your project at any stage and we’ll fill in the gaps. We make it happen.
We brought together acclaimed filmmakers, musicians, journalists, fashion designers, and novelists in one room. We showcased 7 projects and heard from each filmmaker about the exact gap in the market their work fills.
Follow these filmmakers and support their work, because that means more work that represents us. This is only the beginning iA. 🧿
If you found a collaborator in our space, I hope that when you’re asked how you met, you say you met through Aneesa Talks.
📸: @madlight.productions
Ready to work with us? DM or email [email protected]
Had the legendary @adnansid1 over for chai a couple months back and we ended up talking for hours about Pakistani entertainment. ☕️🇵🇰
It’s so valuable to gain perspective from someone who’s been doing this for 35 years. We talked about why a lot of Pakistani films aren’t working, what he looks for in roles now, and what he prioritizes within our broader community.
Full conversation next week on aneesa talks + writes on @substack 📖
#pakistanidramas #adnansiddiqui #pakistani #film #actor #southasian #substack #interview
Being selected for Tasveer’s first-ever South Asian Producer’s Cohort was an honor and drew up a lot of emotions, mostly because a space like this hasn’t existed before.
Thank you @tasveerorg for fostering this community. So grateful for the pioneers in our community who fought to get where they are today, and now use that position to champion our stories. - @hollywoodhindu@blondebrownboy@mo_naqvi@ritameher - This whole weekend was planned with so much care and heart, and it shows.
Sitting in those rooms with studio execs, hearing from producers who’ve made it, and being surrounded by other South Asian filmmakers who get it was inspiring.
We’re one step closer to getting our @bully.mov feature in production and to your screens!
Here’s to OUR stories being told. 📽️
📸: @saalika.foto@misaq.la
