I remember in early 2001, I was flipping through the radio and came across KEST 1450 AM, a radio station that hosts a variety of cultural programs. I heard the vibrant voice of Hassan Zee echoing through my speakers. Hassan has a radio show called "Meri Jaan Pakistan" - catering to the Pakistani community in the Bay Area.

On that day, I remember Hassan talking about an upcoming film he was going to make later in the year called "Daughter of the East." He seemed to have a genuine compassion for women who were caught between obligations from there family and there personal choices.

What makes this film different is that it's the first ever Pakistani-American produced film. Being a man who takes full pride in his Pakistani roots, creating this film is a dream come true for Hassan Zee.

Later, Zee decided to change the title from "Daughter of the East" to "Night of Henna." Quite an intriguing title right? To some it might have a joyous tone, but beneath it cries out a controversial topic.

Peta Cooper: Why did you change the name of the movie from "Daughter of the East" to "Night of Henna"?
Hassan Zee: Since the movie is based on Eastern cultures and it has to do with a woman who struggles for the rights to be free in life and to be able to make her own decisions, the name Daughter of the East sounded like a documentary, and that wasn't the direction I wanted to go in. My goal was to make a movie to reach a broader audience. So I changed it to "Night of Henna" because it sounded more appealing and exotic.

PC: What inspired you to tackle the subject of arranged marriage?
HZ: This topic was in my mind for years because my sister, my mother and other family members were all in arranged marriages. When I see women struggling in life and being unhappy, I often wondered to myself what makes them that way. Take a person who is poor, they can work hard and overcome the obstacle of being poor, but what about a woman who doesn't have any rights? Here in the West, its different, but back East a lot of women in the Muslim culture are arranged and most of them don't have much of a say of who they are going to marry because their parents chose the man. When I think of life, I think you only live once and when I see a woman suffer because the man they were arranged to was a bad match, and they didn't get to be with the man they really wanted to be with, it hurts me. Anything I do with my filmmaking is going to be based on human issues. I really think I can reach out to people and make them think of consequences.

PC: Are these characters fictional? How did you come up with them?
HZ: My style of writing is I always write what I experience. So all these characters are definitely a part of me and people around me. Writing this way I know every aspect of my characters, where they come from, who they are, their cultural background, their ideals and goals. In my mind these are real people and I get to reflect on their feelings. My fiction comes from the real experiences in life.

PC: Can you reflect on the positive and negative feedback you have received from the South Asian community?
HZ: I've received a very good response from the community. First, people just fell in love with the Night of Henna title. A couple of times people did question the title, but I talked to American people, South Asians, and children and they all seemed to like the title. Everyone said the title seems very mysterious and exotic so that's been very good feedback. I think the movie covers some topics that the Western culture questions, so this movie is also going to educate the people of the West, showing them how the people of the East live. There are both, Pakistani and American characters so people will get to see interaction between both cultures.

PC: How is this film different from the traditional "East Meets West" themes that we've seen in other films?
HZ: Films in Bollywood, Pakistan, (America and the UK) are always made for a certain part of the world. They are the same genre films that people have been watching for years. But my film has to do with something real, and it has real characters that I think people can relate to. Films in the East are viewed as musicals and they don't really touch on these topics that I'm touching on in my film. Keep in mind that my film is the first Pakistani American film being made right here in the Bay Area.

PC: Do you believe in the concept of arranged marriage or do you think women should be free to marry whomever they want?
HZ: I believe in family. If two people like each other they should bring them into the family and just let the family join them together. It's very important to have your roots in family so I believe in that. There should be a balance where the person can marry whomever they want and at the same time have family meet them half way and be accepting.

PC: When will Night of Henna be out? Will this be Nationally distributed or will it be released locally?
HZ: Night of Henna will be finished by January 20th, and then I'll be going into post production. I hope to finish it by the summer time and I plan to take it to four festivals. After the festivals I plan to do individual screenings. Sony is already interested in seeing what we are doing so that's very exciting. Panavision has given us three cameras, which cost around 50,000 dollars. So with all that going on I'm very positive by next summer people will get to see Night of Henna. My three big targets are in England, all over America, and eventually India.

PC: If a family member of yours was being forced into an arranged marriage, would you have enough guts to step up and defend her?
HZ: Yes! Of course! If the parents choose somebody, they should make sure that the daughter agrees and she is willing to go forward. Since there isn't much dating in our culture, men and women are two separate identities so the parents should make sure that both parties are comfortable marrying each other. If my sisters or anyone else finds their life partner on there own, I would definitely encourage them to go forward.

PC: You talked a lot about how hard it is for a woman to be able to make decisions about who she's going to marry. But do you think a man has those same troubles as well?
HZ: It's true that men have some problems in arranged marriages but the women suffer more. Men have the opportunity to say no and that's not ok.

PC: After you complete this project, do you plan on tackling another controversial topic?
HZ: I have a couple of ideas in my mind. One of them has to do with the Taj Mahal; I have a beautiful story I'm working on. If I can find money that would be great (laughs) its very hard to find money for films these days. I think after Night of Henna is completed we will be able to showcase more controversial films. Nothing is impossible in this world.

PC: What sort of message would you like to convey through this film?
HZ: The theme of this film is that women should be given the right to make their own decisions, just like men do.

PC: Let me play devil's advocate here, what would you say to someone who suggested that "arranged marriages were good and that they always work out and that what you're portraying puts down our culture, women shouldn't have the right to choose." How would you respond to that?
HZ: I've had one situation on my radio show, when I was publicizing this film; a couple of people called me and didn't agree with what I was saying. They think I'm going to be ruining the culture by making Night of Henna. My friends have even pulled me aside and have tried to talk me out of making this film because they think in the end its going to flop. But I know that what I'm doing is right, and there will be people in this world that don't agree with me but those people need to be taught better. They need to see that women have suffered for years and it's a dangerous cycle we keep repeating. We are in this computer age were human interaction is becoming oblivious. Just look at our personal relationships in life, how we treat our wives, sisters, and women in general and how we feel as a man, that since we are physically powerful we can do whatever we want. People might say women are inferior to men, but women have done so many things that I don't think men can do. That's the voice we want to raise in this film.

PC: What would you like to say to the DesiClub.com readers?
HZ: I would like to thank you Peta. If your readers would like to send me an email they can write to me at nightofhenna@yahoo.com, just keep looking out for this film. I've been to DesiClub.com and it's a wonderful site that covers the community and the Desi culture. You cover issues that need to be taken care of and Peta it's really wonderful you take on these certain issues. So hopefully you and DesiClub continue to make a difference.

Visit the official Night of Henna website at www.geocities.com/nightofhenna

Do you have any thoughts on this? Feel free to send Peta an e-mail @ Peta Cooper.