Lali

In the dappled shade of the jamun tree and the spice-laden hush of her kitchen, Zeba moves like a whisper. Newly wed to Sajawal, a man child haunted by his own reflection, she seeks refuge in two women: Sohni Ammi, her feisty mother in law whose sharp tongue hides a big heart, and Bholi, the quiet neighbour whose gaze holds a strange wisdom. Zeba’s past looms large. Three suitors lost before they could wed her, their deaths hanging like a curse. Love stirs, but Sajawal’s paranoia festers. Bodies become battlegrounds, desire turns to anarchy. Lali is a darkly comic fever dream set in Sahiwal’s shanty towns, where ghosts walk with the living and prophecies press heavy.