About the Movie
Cake follows the story of a Pakistani family consisting of three adult children and their aging parents, who travel home when the father's health begins to fail. Sisters Zareen and Zara have been estranged for many years and must now face each other and an assortment of family issues. Cake cuts through many South Asian stereotypes as summarized in this quote from The News Minute; "Cake is a cinematic breakthrough that deserves praise. It’s sweet, layered and has a delicious icing of nuanced feminism that makes its flavour soar (Saraswati, 2019)."
Datar , Saraswati. “‘Cake’ Review: This Pakistani Drama Slices Past Stereotypes to Create a Compelling Tale.” The News Minute, 31 May 2019, www.thenewsminute.com/flix/cake-review-pakistani-drama-slices-past-stereotypes-create-compelling-tale-102767.
Cake film trailer (click on the image below)
Themes
Family Life & Gender Roles
Evans, Jonathan. “How Indians View Gender Roles in Families and Society.” Pew Research Center’s Religion & Public Life Project, Pew Research Center, 2 Mar. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/religion/2022/03/02/how-indians-view-gender-roles-in-families-and-society/.
Yeung, Wei-Jun Jean, et al. “Families in Southeast and South Asia.” Annual Review of Sociology, vol. 44, no. 1, July 2018, pp. 469–95. EBSCOhost, https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073117-041124.
Reviews
Kessler , Sarah Fuss. “How Pakistan’s Hit Film ‘cake’ Transcends Toxic Masculinity and Breaking All the Rules in Pakistan's Hit Film 'Cake'” Shondaland , 21 Feb. 2019, www.shondaland.com/live/a26433278/adnan-malik-pakistan-film-cake/.
McCahill , Mike. “Cake Review – Karachi Sister Act Ditches Melodrama for Real Life.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 29 Mar. 2018, www.theguardian.com/film/2018/mar/29/cake-review-asim-abbasi-sanam-saeed-aamina-sheikh.
About Pakistan
A to Z International Business: Go to "Country Business Guides" at the top and search "Pakistan."
Pakistan : Society & Culture. Vol. 2nd ed, World Trade Press, 2011. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=e900xww&AN=409465&site=ehost-live&scope=site.