CWC Global Film Screening: Noorie

Directed and produced by Manmohan Krishna and Yash Chopra, Noorie (1979) is a love story set in the Bhadarwah valleys of pre-insurgency Kashmir. The film portrays the budding romance between Noorie (Poonam Dhillon) and Yusuf (Farooq Sheikh), as they encounter deception, tragedy, violence, and ultimately revenge. Brimming with timeless hit songs including Chori Chori Koi Aaye (performed by Lata Mangeshkar), Noorie was a blockbuster both in India, and internationally. Its social and cultural themes have resonated with Muslim communities in global contexts, including Muslim regions of Ghana, West Africa. Even today, more than forty years after its release, the film continues to spark important conversations about the sociopolitical realities of Kashmir and political unrest across cultures.

Katie Young (Concordia University) will join moderator Francis Yeboah (Film and Media Studies, UCSB) for a post-screening discussion of Noorie, where they will consider the reception of the film in Northern Ghana. This screening inaugurates a conference that will be held the following day, entitled “A Return to the African Personality: Intergenerational Conversations.”