Dukhtar

Afia Nathaniel's Dukhtar ("Daughter") successfully melds element of thriller, social justice, and love story. Instead of an indictment of arranged marriage as a whole, the Pakistani filmmaker builds her narrative around a mother's attempt to prevent the marriage of her 10-year-old daughter to end a blood feud. Allah Rahki (Samiya Mumtaz), who married tribal chief Daulat Khan (Asif Khan) when she was 15, appears to go along with his plan to marry off Zainab (Saleha Aref) to a grey-haired rival, but the minute they get the chance, the women go on the lam, and two sets of henchmen spring into action to capture the daughter and kill the mother. When the duo secure a hiding place on the back of a truck, things start to look up, until they are discovered by the trucker, Sohail (Mohib Mirza). Telling a small lie, Allah convinces widower Sohail to let them stay, and the more he learns about their predicament, the harder he works to protect them, leading to a sojourn in a mountain village and a risky trip to bustling Lahore to reunite with Allah's mother. By protecting the escapees, Sohail puts his own life at risk; fortunately, the former mujahedeen proves handy with a weapon, as Nathaniel alternates between action sequences and more intimate moments. Recommended. (K. Fennessy)