The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim

The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim is a 2015 crime drama film directed by Raghav Murali and produced by Zaki Hossain.^[3] The film stars Rahsaan Islam, Monica Dogra, Kal Parekh, and Sorab Wadia in pivotal roles.^[3][4] The film is loosely inspired by true stories of the NYPD, FBI, and CIA's use of Muslim informants.^[5] The film was produced in English and in Hindi and premiered in the United States 15 April 2015.^[1][6]

Plot

Taz Rahim (Rahsaan Islam) is a wannabe Yo! Yo! Honey Singh desi rapper struggling to make ends meet. One day while dealing weed, he is arrested for the third time in six months. The latest arrest being made by Detective Nick Patel (Kal Parekh), whom is working undercover as a drug buyer. While being held, Taz is given an ultimatum by Nick: either become an undercover Muslim informant in the NYPD's 'create and capture' program or face deportation from the United States.

As Taz begins his clumsy journey as an informant, he is given instructions by Nick to create conversations about Jihad and use those conversations to bait Muslims in the community into saying inflammatory things about the United States. Anything said by people in the community can be used against them. The terrorist hunt naturally leads Taz to the congressional campaign of Mo Khan (Sorab Wadia). Taz gains access to Mo Khan by becoming an intern on the documentary that is being made on Mo Khan's campaign by Sabrina Jiwan (Monica Dogra).

Cast

• Rahsaan Islam as Taz Rahim
• Monica Dogra as Sabrina Jiwan
• Kal Parekh as Nick Patel
• Sorab Wadia as Mo Khan
• Sana Serrai as Meera
• Farah Bala as Yasmina Khan
• Lipica Shah as Natasha
• Marc Goldberg as Roy Kellogg
• Gerrard Lobo as Imran Qureshi
• Subhan Choudhury as Ali Uncle
• Kabir Chopra as Asad
• Nikita Chaudhry as Samira

Production

Casting

After watching Simanaheen, Zaki Hossain approached Rahsaan Islam to cast the latter in a film they would make together.^[7] The result of their collaboration was the script of The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim, which was finalized in February 2014. Kal Parekh and Sana Serrai were next to be cast.^[3] Parekh was noticed by the casting team by his work in FOX television's Pan Am and Serrai was noticed after being named one of the ten sexiest Indian models who wooed America by Technology magazine.^[8][9] The producers had a desire to work with Monica Dogra ever since the release of her Star World television show The Dewarists and were able to cast her in the lead role of The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim.^[4] Dogra's feature film debut was opposite Aamir Khan in Dhobi Ghat.^[10]

Filming

Shooting for The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim began in June 2014 in New York City.^[4] The film was shot exclusively in the city until August 2014 and took place in every borough of New York City, except for the Bronx.^[11]

References

External links

• The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim at the Internet Movie Database
• The Spectacular Jihad of Taz Rahim on Facebook