In the movie Mogo Mogli, Riz Ahmed blurs the line between fiction and autobiography.

He stars as Zed and on the rise rapper whose biggest gig yet is threatened by the sudden

onset of an illness.

He's also forcibly confront his own insecurities about his family and British Pakistani identity.

Ahmed co-wrote the movie along with director Basam Tariq and the result is compelling and

surprising story that dances between realism and fantasy.

I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about Mogo Mogli on pop culture happy hour

from NPR.

Joining me today from Toronto is culture writer and panelist on the CBC's pop chat,

Emil Miyazi.

Welcome Emil.

Hi thanks so much for having me.

Yeah I'm very excited to talk with you about this movie.

Mogo Mogli stars Riz Ahmed as Zed, a British rapper who's just booked his first world tour

as an opener for a major artist.

But before the tour can even begin, he suddenly struck by a disease that affects his muscles

and leaves him unable to walk.

Now if this sounds a lot like Santa Metal, well there are some definite similarities here.

That was an indie film in which Ahmed played a musician facing a crossroads after he loses

most of his hearing.

But Mogo Mogli feels like a different movie in many ways, especially because it's also

dealing with the traumas of political and familial history and it plays with more abstract

...