Zeba enters marriage with three deaths already hanging over her name. In Lali, three earlier suitors died before they could marry her, leaving rumours of a curse to follow her into her new life with Sajawal. Yet the advertised premise does not leave this Punjabi bride isolated. Her two possible refuges are found close to home: Sohni Ammi, her mother-in-law, and Bholi, a neighbour.
That alliance gives Sarmad Khoosat’s film a more intriguing emotional shape than a simple tale of supernatural danger. Zeba’s marriage is strained by suspicion, superstition and the weight of her past, while Sajawal becomes increasingly consumed by paranoia. The deaths and the curse belong entirely to the film’s fictional world, but they create practical pressure within its central relationship: Zeba must find her place in a household where fear can change how every ordinary connection is read.
Sohni Ammi and Bholi offer two distinct forms of support within that setup. MISAFF’s synopsis describes the mother-in-law as sharp-tongued but big-hearted, while Bholi is a quiet neighbour with uncanny wisdom. Neither description tells viewers how their relationships with Zeba will develop. Together, however, they signal that the women surrounding the marriage are not merely background figures waiting for the central couple’s story to unfold.
That is the feature’s strongest promise. The same domestic world that contains Sajawal’s growing suspicion also contains the people Zeba may be able to trust. A mother-in-law could easily have been positioned as another source of conflict in a bride’s difficult new household; here, she is advertised as a source of refuge. Bholi, meanwhile, brings an outsider’s presence into a conflict rooted in marriage and family reputation.
The film places those relationships in Sahiwal, where the festival description brings love, jealousy, local folklore and supernatural suggestion together. Lali is billed as a 2026 Pakistani Punjabi-language dark comedy-fantasy drama, allowing fear and humour to occupy the same premise without asking viewers to accept the rumoured curse as fact. Khoosat’s direction and the Sahiwal setting make this a particularly notable festival selection for audiences following contemporary Punjabi-language cinema across borders.
Its opening-night status supplies the immediate Canadian connection. MISAFF lists Lali as its 2026 opening film and Canadian premiere, screening at Cineplex Cinemas Mississauga Square One on September 30 at 7:45 p.m. A second screening is scheduled at the same cinema on October 2 at 9 p.m.
Prospective viewers can check MISAFF’s current screening and ticket information. The premise offers no verdict on whether Zeba can quiet the fears surrounding her marriage. Its more revealing invitation is that she will not have to face them without other women beside her.
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