Meesha Shafi will be seeing on our screens soon in her next project, a coming-of-age feature called Mustache. She will be joined by comedian Hasan Minhaj and American actor Alicia Silverstone.
The first feature film from acclaimed shorts filmmaker Imran J. Khan, Mustache is entirely autobiographical. Ilyas, a peculiar 13-year-old child (played by Atharva Verma), sets out to negotiate the social order of his new California public school while sporting a mustache his parents won’t let him get rid of, according to Deadline.
The first feature film from acclaimed shorts filmmaker Imran J. Khan, Mustache is entirely autobiographical. Ilyas, a peculiar 13-year-old child (played by Atharva Verma), sets out to negotiate the social order of his new California public school while sporting a mustache his parents won’t let him get rid of, according to Deadline.
“I’m very humbled and honored to be partnering with the amazing people at MakeSay as well as the talented Christopher Storer to bring my very personal and often eccentric film, Mustache to life,” said Khan. “I can’t think of a better team to partner with to bring this film to life.”
The movie also has Rizwan Manji (Schitt’s Creek), who plays Ilyas’ father Hameed, Shafi, who plays the mother, and Ayana Manji, who plays his friend Yasmeen from high school. There are no specifics available about Silverstone and Minhaj’s characters. The team behind the successful television shows Ramy and The Bear for Hulu and FX, respectively, American Light and Fixture’s Christopher Storer and Tyson Bidner, and MakeSay are producing the film.
Rizwan is excited to work on the movie since he thought the plot to be realistic and authentic.“I am excited to be a part of a project that tells a universal coming-of-age story in ways that we haven’t seen before and from a diverse perspective. Mustache is an honest representation of growing up Muslim in the 90s. I found the script special, and immediately connected to the father-son relationship that is central to the film.”
Christina Won and Jessica Sittig of MakeSay released a joint statement saying Mustache is exactly the kind of “paradigm shift” they love to bring to the screen. “A heartwarming and funny story that highlights an underrepresented culture and uplifts a diverse, auteur filmmaker,” they said. “Imran is an incredible talent and he draws from his own personal experiences growing up in the bay area in the 90s to create a film with laughs and a lot of heart. We couldn’t be more proud to bring this story to light.”
Shafi has had roles in Strike, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, and Mira Nair’s thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Minhaj is known for his Peabody Award-winning Netflix series Patriot Act with Hassan Minhaj and comedy specials.
