A Tragic Requiem: Ethical and Psychic Dissonance in Qala (2022)

Mutqeen Khan; Aqib Javaid Parry

doi:10.5195/cinej.2026.900

A Tragic Requiem: Ethical and Psychic Dissonance in Qala (2022)

Authors

Mutqeen Khan University of Kashmir India https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2728-4563
Aqib Javaid Parry Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University https://orcid.org/0009-0008-3120-5208

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.900

Keywords:

Qala (2022), Hindi cinema, patriarchal motherhood, cinematic ethics, trauma

Abstract

Qala (2022), directed by Anvita Dutt, is a layered exploration of childhood trauma, patriarchal motherhood, and female subjectivity, situated within the emerging feminist new wave in Indian cinema. Contemporary scholarship has extensively interpreted its eponymous protagonist Qala as a victim of patriarchal violence, drawing on feminist psychoanalytic frameworks including those of Adrienne Rich and Nancy Chodorow. However, this paper explores the underexamined ethical dimensions of the tragic narrative, arguing that the film is a commentary on how victims reluctantly negotiate, internalize, and reproduce structures of violence and erasure. The paper is structured as a twofold inquiry, at one level exploring how gendered expectations, enmeshed identity, and emotional neglect fracture Qala’s psyche. At another level, drawing on Martha Nussbaum’s ethical criticism, the paper illustrates how shame, guilt, betrayal, dilemmas, and moral culpability intensify Qala’s psychic decline and articulate her dilemmatic conscience. Through an analysis of the cinematic form, the paper shows how soundscape, lighting, and mise-en-scène are utilized to externalize psychic and ethical dissonance. The film is framed as an Aristotelian tragedy to illustrate that Qala’s anagnorisis transforms the narrative into a cathartic rendition of the aftereffects of trauma, patriarchal violence, and residual guilt.

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Published

2026-10-15

How to Cite

Khan, M., & Parry, A. J. (2026). A Tragic Requiem: Ethical and Psychic Dissonance in Qala (2022). CINEJ Cinema Journal, 14(2), 335–374. https://doi.org/10.5195/cinej.2026.900

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Vol. 14 No. 2 (2026): Fall

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