Honour

Bringing Bollywood in its most ominous form to British cinema, Honour tells the tale of the ultimate betrayal – a topic current in modern media: honour killings within families.

Brought to the big screen by new director Shan Khan, Honour is a gritty, hard-hitting thriller starring Paddy Considine (The Bourne Ultimatum) and a host of new British talent well worth looking out for in future productions

Ultimately, the film highlights an extreme issue continuously headlining today’s news.  The weight the message carries pins the film tightly to a genre often side-stepped with caution in previous attempts to tackle the menacing subject. Khan instead has gone full speed ahead and is rewarded with Honour’s direct, unapologetic depiction of the truly harrowing story around a girl targeted for an “honour killing”.

Mona, played by new screen beauty Aiysha Hart, is trapped between her dedication to her religious Muslim family, and her love, Tanvir (another up-and-coming actor, Nikesh Patel). With hints toward a modern Romeo & Juliet, Mona and Tanvir are forbidden from seeing each other, and just before they plan to elope the pair are caught by Mona’s intimidating brother, Kasim (Faraz Ayub).

By their mother’s direction, both Kasim and younger (less enthusiastic) brother, Adel (Shubham Saraf) are to arrange Mona’s disposal in the name of dishonour. Calling in the help of an unnamed bounty hunter (Considine), Mona’s demise appears imminent.

Although the whole film is a collection of fairly hideous portrayals – Mona’s mother being the absolute embodiment of evil, and the heartless bounty killer with Neo-Nazism coursing through his veins channelling his racism into actual racial killings (on behalf of the victim’s families) – Khan has categorically provided British cinema with a dedicated attempt to educate and enlighten (as well as entertain) the public.

Filmed in London and the surrounding area, Honour does have all the ingredients of a feature length British BBC drama; however, the quality of the acting from Considine, Hart and Ayub deserves the silver screen, and Khan has provided enough atmosphere and twists within the plot to make this film definitely worth watching this summer.

Jennifer Atkinson

Honour is released nationwide on 27^th June 2013.

Watch the trailer for Honour here: