BASSAM Tariq’s gritty new UK hip hop drama ‘Mogul Mowgli’, starring Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler, Sound of Metal) will be this year’s SWIFF Closing Night Gala film.

In ‘Mogul Mowgli’, British rapper Zed (played by Ahmed), a Pakistani immigrant, is about to hit the big time.

With a few weeks before his career breakthrough as the support act riding the coattails of one of the world’s biggest hip hop acts on world tour, Zed returns home to his culturally conservative family to find his roots.

Derided for the westernisation of his name (Zaheer), Zed is suddenly struck down by a degenerative disease, leaving him bedridden.

Panicking at the thought of his big break passing him by, Zed’s illness morphs into hallucinations, a by-product of shunning his culture for a shot at the big time.

‘Mogul Mowgli’ is just one of the 65 different feature films that audiences can experience at this year’s Screenwave International Film Festival.

The Closing Night festivity flows on after the screening with a live music performance from ‘ethnocyberfunk’ trio Coco Varma, Bobby Singh, and Ben Walsh at the afterparty, fusing traditional Indian rhythms with dance beats to see off the 2021 festival.

The Closing Night Gala sells out each year, with limited tickets remaining since going on sale last Saturday.

 

By Andrew VIVIAN