"I really saw it as a three-location film."
MAGID / ZAFAR is a short film that centres on a busy British Pakistani takeaway shop, in which all hell breaks loose.
The film explores captivating themes and relatable characters that stay with the audience long after it has ended.
DESIblitz proudly interviewed with the director, Luís Hindman, and writer, Sufiyaan Salam.
During our chat, the two creatives delved into MAGID / ZAFAR and their experiences of working on the film.
They also explained the objectives they hoped the film would achieve and what makes South Asian voices a key component of cinema.
Luís Hindman
What was it about the script of MAGID / ZAFAR that made you wish to direct this film?
After finishing the ‘Permanent Damage‘ music video series for Joesef — my most personal project up to that point — I wanted to make a narrative short on a similar scale, to apply the craft I’d practised on music videos to a personal story and original script.
Sufiyaan and I had been talking about doing a film together for a while.
We really wanted to write about South Asian masculinity through a new lens, via cinematic language inspired by Xavier Dolan and Joachim Trier.
Through talking together about this culture and setting, combined with a desire to continue exploring ideas I’d touched on in ‘Permanent Damage’, it very naturally led to MAGID / ZAFAR.
The film is largely set in one location. In what ways did this impact the filmmaking process?
In the writing, it’s great – it simplifies a lot and provides a very clear trajectory to follow.
When it comes to directing, however, it’s the biggest threat of failure.
You’re in this location for the whole film, so it has to be perfect and must sustain itself.
This led to some very strong decisions early in prep — such as production designing the location from scratch, to have full control of the world, and treating each area of the takeaway as its own individual location.
I really saw it as a three-location film as opposed to one.
As a director, what do you think can be done to better represent South Asian voices in film?
Well, it’s entirely on us as filmmakers. There’s been a very certain flavour of South Asian cinema up until now – especially British Asian cinema – and we need to challenge that, react against it and push it further.
There’s been some very exciting films in the past couple of years, which are absolutely doing this, such as Karan Kandhari’s Sister Midnight and Shuchi Talati’s Girls Will Be Girls.
I think those filmmakers are trailblazers, and we just need more and more of that.
For me, with MAGID / ZAFAR, it was really about showing that South Asian characters can exist with all the elements this film is made up of.
I wanted to cast faces that could appear in a Claire Denis film, shoot it on 16 mm like it was a Wong Kar-Wai film, launch into it with the energy of a Cassavetes film, and carve out space for the emotional sensitivity of a Xavier Dolan film.
What do you hope the audience will take away from MAGID / ZAFAR?
I hope that by the end of the film, their opinions and feelings on what the film is or what it was going to be are completely different to what they might’ve thought when it started.
Sufiyaan Salam
Can you tell us about MAGID / ZAFAR? What is the story, and what inspired you to write it?
MAGID / ZAFAR follows Magid as he finishes one last shift in a busy Pakistani takeaway before his Mendhi celebrations, which is characterised as a “halal stag do” in the film.
But when his childhood friend, Zafar, storms in angrily demanding to speak to Magid, we realise is all is not well between them.
Luís and I had the idea for Magid as a character in our heads for ages, but were struggling to find the perfect setting to tell his story.
We were interested in the idea of this kind of brash young British-Muslim man using his bravado as a kind of armour.
Setting it in a stressful takeaway means that he’s got to do a million things all at once: cook food, deal with customers, his colleagues and overbearing boss, and of course, Zafar himself.
All of which makes it increasingly difficult for him to bury his emotions. It’s a highly flammable situation.
What do you think British Pakistani businesses represent within the UK today?
They are just another expression of Britishness.
I think it’s cool that our film is set in a location that features brown faces speaking a mixture of English, Urdu and Punjabi, listening to Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan on the radio, with a big neon halal sign hanging on the door.
It is still a distinctly British film set in a distinctly British environment.
Luís and I both believe the texture of these sorts of places — an authentic Pakistani business run by a character played by Kulvinder Ghir — should be elevated on screen, shown in a beautiful, artful way.
Similar to how Chungking Express presents Hong Kong eateries, or how Sinners shows the American juke joint.
What power do you think screenwriting has to tell South Asian stories?
Ultimately, I treat South Asians the way I treat anything — Britishness, masculinity, relationships, whatever.
There’s plenty of great films out there dealing with these subjects, so I feel like the job is just to keep trying to find new, better ways of telling our stories.
Instead of buying into or unknowingly replicating stereotypes, I think it’s important to turn things on their head, destroy anything that limits our expression.
Writing for the screen, we get to shape how we view ourselves and how we view others. That’s the power of it, really.
Through their inspiring words, Luís Hindman and Sufiyaan Salam convey their passion and hope for MAGID / ZAFAR.
As part of the Shorts Film Competition of the BFI 2025, MAGID / ZAFAR is an essential and entertaining piece of art.
The film is an ode to both British and South Asian values.
It proves that if done rightly, a two-hour feature is not always necessary to tell an unforgettable story.
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