Kaur (short film)

Kaur (2022), is a British short film co-written and produced by psychiatrist, actor, writer and producer Parvinder Shergill and presenter, producer and director Juggy Sohal. It depicts a young British Sikh woman who decides to wear a turban against the advice of her father. Her father had been traumatised by his own experience of being a turban-wearing Sikh immigrant in Britain, when in the 1980s he found his own hair had been cut off after an assault after leaving the bus from school.

The film features Shergill as the young woman, Nina Wadia as her mother, and Stephen Uppal as her father. Kaur was first released in 2022 and toured Gurudwaras, festivals and university Sikh societies in the UK. Before appearing on Netflix in May 2024, it was broadcast on ITVX and BritBox. Generally seen as a success at the festivals, it was later announced that the film would form the basis of a Hollywood feature film.

Plot
Kaur is centred around Avani, a young British Sikh woman who tells her mother of the difficult decision she has made to commit to the baptism ceremony of Amrit Sanskar, and wear a turban for the first time, against her father's wishes. The film begins with Avani on the steps of a Gurudwara in England, and a voice-over of quotes from Nelson Mandela, Eleanor Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, and Guru Nanak. The subsequent three main scenes focus on the conversations she has individually with each parent and then finally on the ceremony. Interspersed are snippets of typical Gurudwara life in the UK, including langar preparation and community gatherings.

Avani's mother praises Avani's choice of clothing colour, tells her how "brave" she is and that her grandmother would have been proud. After seeing Avani's steel bangle, her mother presents her with the smaller one that Avani's father gave her when she was a young girl. Avani is surprised to hear that her maternal grandmother might have disproved, and that her father is present outside the building. She runs to find him and confronts him with questions on why he does not approve of her personal choice of wanting to wear a turban. He is clear that he will not support her in a choice that led to him to be tormented when he was a child. It was 1984, when he was an immigrant school child coming off a bus. He explains that after feeling a blow to his head, he found his own hair had been cut off. He didn't want his child to go through what he did.

Production and release
According to psychiatrist, actor, writer and producer Parvinder Shergill, after Bend It Like Beckham, she could not find another mainstream English film led by a woman that looked like her so she made her own and titled it Kaur. She co-wrote and co-produced it with presenter Juggy Sohal. It was directed by Kaki Wong. More than 70 South Asian women contributed, including Harpreet Kaur.

The film is set in a Gurdwara in Bedford. The complete film lasts 13 minutes and 27 seconds. Kaur was first released in 2022 and toured Gurudwaras, festivals and university Sikh societies in the UK. In 2023, it was then broadcast on ITVX and BritBox. It appeared on Netflix in May 2024.

Cast

 * Parvinder Shergill as Avani
 * Nina Wadia as Avani's mother
 * Stephen Uppal as Avani's father

Reception and adaptation
In 2022 Kaur received a jury mention for Best Short Film and Best Director Short at the Global Indian Film Festival. The Independent's Jacob Stolworthy reported that the film was a success at festivals and has been seen as a "shining a light on Sikh families in the UK". He wrote that the film "has been praised for the thought-provoking way it explores the challenges faced by British South Asian women in the UK, but also for its examination of the reason why Avani’s father, a Sikh Punjabi immigrant, responds to her decision in the way he does."

Asia Samachar reported that Shergill's intent was to reach out to a wider audience on stories about Asian women. News of Kaur and interviews with the cast appeared in several articles in the BBC News, who reported that the film told the story of a conflict between a Sikh woman and her father, who disclosed to her his own experience as an immigrant Sikh child in 1980s Britain. In 2024 the BBC and the Eastern Eye reported that the film would be the basis of a Hollywood feature film.