Night of Henna on AllMovie

A woman finds herself torn between two cultures in this independent drama. Hava (Pooja Kumar) is a young woman born to a Pakistani-American family living in California. Hava's parents are keen to have their daughter grow up respecting Pakistani traditions rather than adopting a typical American lifestyle, so she was sent to Pakistan as a child, where she spent nine years living with family and studying. After returning to America, Hava becomes eager to sample some of the freedoms and possibilities which were closed to her in Pakistan, despite the objections of her parents. Without telling her father, Hava enrolls at a local college and takes a job at a coffee house, where she meets fellow student Justin (Craig Marker). Hava is attracted to Justin, and he feels the same way about her as he gently introduces her to the life of a typical college student; however, Hava's parents have pledged her hand to Salman (Suhail Tayeb), a fellow Pakistani-American, and Hava must decide if she is to follow the wishes of her family or her own heart. Night of Henna is the first feature film from writer and director Hassan Zee, who is himself a Pakistani immigrant living in California.