You won't be disappointed!

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A well-written script with an honest performance by the cast, the story telling has an Indian folk tale touch.Tillotama Shome is great with her performance, the scenes with the mother and father are perfect and heart touching, and it is because of her performance that this movie comes out as a subtle art film rather than a Yash raj melodrama.The movie talks about the how the desire of having a boy child was prevalent in the past and to what level the people can be obsessed with such pity things and destroy their and others happy peaceful life.Do watch and support the movie, the movie perfectly encapsulates the sense of an Indie classic(that is a new story line) and not an artificial work like "ship of Theseus".

Most of the reviews here are by Indians or people of Indian descent and, since the film was made for an Indian audience, maybe you should look to them for a more informed opinion. There aren't many reviews though, so here's one European perspective. The review is full of spoilers throughout.It's a film of two halves. The first, actually well over half the running time, is fine – the story of a father obsessed with having a male heir, a continuing problem in many parts of the world, and the difficulties that arise when he insists his fourth daughter is a boy. Others have commented more knowledgeably on this aspect. The script (in my case via subtitles) is well-written, it doesn't exactly rush along but I didn't feel it was too slow, the settings are atmospheric and the direction competent. I did have a problem with some of the acting though.It's not just an India-UK thing. I've watched a few Indian films recently with women in traditionally male roles, such as 'Mary Kom' and 'Mardaani' both of which have excellent performances from their female leads. People seem to love Irfan Khan who plays the father here, but I found his acting so restrained as to be almost metronomic – OK it's hard to express subtle emotion from behind a bushy beard and turban, but he hardly seems to try. However, Tillotama Shome, as the daughter-dressed-as-son, makes him look positively animated, sleepwalking through scene after scene with no facial expression whatever. Are we supposed to conclude that dressing a girl as a boy turns her into a zombie? Their two wives on the other hand, were both excellent.Then we get to the second part. Daughter/son kills father, starts to act a bit (she's really good at this point!) and things get even more interesting. Will she continue in disguise in order to have something like a normal life with her wife? Will she, as the wife urges and with her promised support, finally find herself as a woman? Or will it all fall apart for them? But the film-maker seems to have no interest in these fascinating characters. Instead of answering these questions, he resurrects the less-than-fascinating father as a ghost, weird things happen with no explanation, and all those interesting characters are soon gone: one wife dies in a fire, the other commits suicide and daughter/son just disappears. None of it makes the least sense and no other reviewer has even guessed at what the director is trying and failing to do here. What he succeeds brilliantly at is wrecking what to this point has been a very decent and worthwhile movie. A typical ludicrous and off-putting scene: Traditionalist vigilantes are gathering to punish the 'unnatural' woman-dressed-as-man. Ghost-father shows up, removes his shirt and says: 'I'm the son – do I look like a woman?' Maybe not, but what he does look like is a man in his 50's, definitely not a teenage boy. However, the vigilantes are all completely satisfied and just melt away into the underbrush. This is the point where you switch channels if it's on TV, or chuck the DVD in the garbage. I forced myself to watch on to the end, but there was nothing more to see, folks.

What if you were the prisoner of desires? What if your construction was nothing but a quicksand of lies? All you gain is a house of cards. A ghost, so lonely by the defeat of his realism walks down the Punjab territory. Alas, the land gets bisected by a border, so violent! Such is the tale of Tillotama Shome's Kanwar being morally stabbed behind the curtain of sexuality. Anup Singh's Indian-German film 'Qissa-The Tale of a Lonely Ghost' is a cinematic sensation that goes down deep into your subconscious. In the hour of Partition, a Sikh resident of the now Pakistan seeks shelter in Punjab, India with his wife and three not so desired for daughters. Thus is what Irrfan Khan's Umber Singh, wishing for a boy out of Mehar's (Tisca Chopra) womb. When the fourth daughter is born, he persists on bringing her up as a son. Kanwar, in disguise of a son prepares herself as a boy. An adolescent love gets injected in the form of Neeli (Rasika Dugal) followed by a marriage. The beginning of a new relationship calls for the end of what was so far a sexual illusion.Director Anup Singh does true justice in maintaining the patience of being brave as he successfully makes the non-chronological phantasm work in a meter of realism as well as surrealism. The second half of the story takes a sudden realistic turn as it is revealed in the posters of the film. If realism is the false fall, surrealism gives the definite land in the plot.With the evergreen brilliance of Irrfan Khan, the acting has reached a summit of what one can hardly comment about. The soliloquy presented to the dead sands is like a perpetual cycle of fate that cries in the tone of,"Naa aadmi, naa aurat. Naa jeev, naa pret." Tillotama Shome, famous for her serious portrayals has once again nourished the excellence of her virtue. With an innocent boldness and an intense artistry, her character is like a flame, the delusion of which stays on even after it gets extinguished. Tisca Chopra and Rasika Dugal has also contributed their magnificence in sculpting this master class.A warm tone cinematography throughout the film along with the immaculate sound mixing has successfully provided for balancing the tension with the 'what happens next' feeling. A well edited synchronization with the proper synthesis of music has given the film a strong circumference.The audience leaves the theatres with some serious question marks haunting their grey scale. The well cooked delicacy of a sexually exposed Kanwar with the fog of Neeli's existence is the best abstract that gets nailed into your brain. The posters came out with a Mira Nair quote terming the film as a "masterpiece." 'Qissa-The Tale of a Lonely Ghost' is not a onetime watch. Watch, leave and watch again

Qissa is a visually stunning film with multiple concurrent themes running through it, ranging from patriarchy, partition, parochialism and even briefly same sex relationships. Partition was vividly depicted in a more sensitive way than I've seen before on screen. The film turns out fine performances from an array of actresses including Tisca Chopra and Tillotama Shome. It's also probably no coincidence that Irrfan Khan, a Muslim, was cast in a Sikh role; something that adds an unspoken gravitas to the part of Umber Singh given the historical context. The multiple scenes shot around wells will resonate with any person whose family was scarred by the partition of the Punjab; from either side.The presence of German funding is evident (although India's NFDC are part-funders); this is an independent non-commercial drama with a visible budget behind it. This lends an almost epic feel to some of the earlier scenes that would have been surely lacking without the European financial input. The score, by a French composer I believe, is excellent and an integral part of the film; although heavy on Indian motifs, it sounds decidedly un-Indian in structure. That's not a criticism, rather a refreshing bonus for the film that benefits from its soundscape. The music is also suggestive and never overpowering. The two vocal tracks are from the outstanding Nooran Sisters, Punjabis themselves, with thankfully no mainstream Bollywood singers in sight.As always Khan delivers an impeccable performance although the character does come across as one-dimensional at times; probably more to do with the script that his actual performance. The stand-out performances come from Shome as the 'son' Kanwar, and Raskia Dugal as his gypsy wife, Neeli. The chemistry, friction, pain and ultimately tenderness between these two is the highlight of the film. I would argue that Raskia Dugal almost upstages the other leads with her brilliant performance, particularly in the later scenes where the couple have fled their home. Kanwar's confusion also comes across as genuine, a credit to Shome's portrayal in a difficult role, while the nude scene, a critical part of the plot- is sensitively handled.My criticism of the film comes with the 'ghost' scenes; had the English title of the film not had "The Tale of a Lonely Ghost" appended to it (an unnecessary expanded titling, in my opinion); the initial scenes where Khan returns are momentarily confusing. It's not clear if he is a ghost or not, although that ambiguity may be intentional- or possibly I was a bit slow to pick up on it despite seeing his apparent demise earlier. Although parts of the film come across as dream-like, these initial ghost scenes don't and for that reason it's unclear if Kanwar is imagining Khan's appearance or not. These are minor points in an otherwise good film though, but the film still throws open many questions such as who and why where others complicit in the deceit, and why did the mother not put up resistance to the charade, amongst others.This is the kind of film that will do very well at film festivals, and deservedly so, but is probably too complex and intelligent for wider mainstream appeal-- in say a way some more accessible Deepa Mehta films would. It will be interesting to see what reception the film receives when it is ultimately released in India.Director Anup Singh has done a good job of bringing to life an intricate story that is unlike any other recent Indian film out there. Recommended.