Joyland: Acclaimed Pakistani Film About an Accidental Burlesque Dancer is Emotionally Alive

By Karen Gordon

Rating: B-plus

In the rich movie Joyland - the impressive feature film debut by Pakistani writer/director Saim Sadiq - we are introduced to Haider (Ali Junejo), whose interview for a vague job opening turns out to be a try-out for a burlesque backup dancer spot.

Despite his inept Bollywood style dancing, the Lahore theatre owner hires him anyway. Is he that lazy, or does it reflect a slightly contemptuous attitude towards Biba (Alina Khan), the performer who needs the dancers, and who happens to be a trans woman?  

Haider (Ali Junejo) is along for the ride with the trans diva Biba (Alina Khan) in Joyland.

At least Biba chose the job and knows who she is.  Haider is much less focused. He didn’t choose any of what’s going on here.  

For a young married Pakistani man, from a conservative family, the job itself is close to taboo. But the money is good. And so, he accepts. The job, and his relationship with Biba, forms the backbone of Joyland, a film that explores gender fluidity, and identity. 

Joyland has spent the year leading up to its theatrical release playing festivals around the world, Including TIFF, and racking up some impressive firsts and awards. It premiered at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival where it won the Un Certain Regard Jury Prize, and the Queer Palm.  It’s the the first Pakistani film to make the Oscar  International Film short list, and won the 2023 Film Independent Spirit Award for Best International film earlier this year.

Haider lives in a lively, crowded house with his wife Mumtaz (Rasti Farooq), his brother Salem (Sameer Sohail) and sister-in-law Nucchi (Sarwat Gilani), and their four children, all girls. 

The family patriarch, Abba (Salmaan Peerzada),  is in a wheelchair and needs attention. He also makes the rules in the household to which the family adheres without question. .Haider has been part of running the household, and taking care of his father.  

Haider is a warm, gentle, handsome young man who puts duty first, as a son, husband, brother, uncle. Meanwhile, his wife Mumtaz has been building her own business as a bridal make-up artist.  But when Haider comes home and announces that he has a new job (he lies about it, saying he is a theatre manager), Abba, decrees that she quit to help Nucchi run the house. Very reluctantly, she complies. 

Haider, now earning respect at home, dutifully works with Biba as she teaches the dancers their routines. She’s a tough diva. But as we and Haider see, her life as a trans woman is difficult. She’s frequently misgendered, and subject to violence.  But Biba pushes through. 

Away from his family, Haider pushes himself into new territory, and in terms of his heart and identity is finding a kind of freedom, along with feelings for Biba.  In contrast Mumtaz, who is now stuck at home, as a caretaker and housewife, feels more like a prisoner.

Joyland is, in broad strokes, a movie about finding one’s personal truth, however unexpected and unconventional it may be to the parochial larger world. Consequences can follow.

It is not unfamiliar territory for a film dealing with gender and identity.  But, Director Sadiq, who co-wrote the script with Maggie Briggs, has taken a more complex approach with Joyland  Haider’s identity is the center of the movie. But the story isn’t as cut-and-dried as to whether he’s gay or straight.

Nor is it strictly about him. In his two environments, home and work, he’s not the only person struggling to find fulfillment and meaning despite the restrictions of a conservative society. There are plenty of people here negotiating between their desires and the reality of their lives. 

For most of the film, Sadiq avoids tropes in terms of gender norms, and social roles. The film makes its points, often in subtle ways, in reactions and interactions, in stolen or quiet moments.  It makes for a movie that feels rich in terms of its tone and characters, and has an emotional depth. 

But it goes a bit off in the final act of the film. Sadiq seems too anxious to make his points about society in a way that is perhaps a bit too on point. 

Nonetheless, Joyland is impressive, with an emotional world that feels true, and characters who feel complex and alive. This will no doubt be a break-out film for some of the actors, including Junejo,  a stage actor in Pakistan in his first film role, and Alina Khan. And with his debut feature, Sadiq has established himself as a director with a knack for creating emotionally resonant films. 

Joyland. Directed by Saim Sadiq, written by Saim Sadiq and Maggie Briggs, Starring Ali Junejo, Rasta Farooq and Alina Khan. In theatres, including Toronto’s TIFF Bell Lightbox, April 21.