Review: 'Material', Starring Riaad Moosa and Vincent Ebrahim

The story of the child doing something that the parents don't agree with is something that has been done several times before, and in non-American culture, it's usually the female who is the focus of this attention and breakout freedom. Material brings us another one of these stories, only this time from a son's perspective about his career plans and not just his love life, which is refreshing. Real-life comedian Riaad Moosa (Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom) stars in this film, which follows similar events that Moosa himself experienced in a light-hearted and feel-good, albeit cheesy, film about following your own path. 

Cassim (Moosa) is a Pakistani Muslim who works in his father Ebrahim's (Vincent Ebrahim) fabric shop in Johannesburg. He's set to take over the shop later in the year, but deep down, working and running the family business is not something he sees himself doing forever. Behind his parents' back, Cassim, along with his friend Yusuf (Joey Yusuf

Rasdien), attend comedy clubs during the week, where Cassim takes to the stage to make people laugh. He's good at stand-up comedy and this is what he wants to do with his life.  

Things become a little complicated for Cassim when his parents find out what he's been doing. Ebrahim thinks its not a respectable occupation and feels insulted that Cassim doesn't want to continue working in the family business, especially since there are tensions between Ebrahim and his brother, who owns his own fabric shop down the street. Between all this, Cassim crosses paths with a childhood friend named Zulfa (Carishma Basday) whom his father refuses to allow him to marry. 

Material has a lot of real-life issues that many can relate to. If not with the cultural aspects, then one can easily relate to disapproving parents, or feeling like a family failure, not following tradition, etc. What's immediately obvious about this film is that it doesn't center itself around romantic relationships and the drama that may ensue with the characters' families. It's more career-driven, which can be a major contention for parents coming from a certain background and the differences in thinking between their generation and their children's.

The film does a fairly good job of bringing these topics to light, and how it's sometimes hard for parents to understand why you choose to do something over what's traditionally been done for decades. The film approaches these topics with a sense of respect and, at the same time, a humor that infuses itself from beginning to end.  At the same time, the film can get extremely cheesy and sometimes feels very much like a Bollywood film set in Johannesburg. It's very cutesy and cliché during some parts, but regardless of this, its sense of humor keeps it from making you want to shy away from it. 

Material is an easy watch that is very light-hearted and might have you nodding along in some places because of its very relatable to anyone who's ever experienced the same things Moosa has. The movie is feel-good, humorous, and really shines the most when Moosa takes to the stage and gives us a dose of his comedy, which will make you laugh, parallels what's going on, and is the highlight of the film.  

Material is available on iTunes April 28, 2014.