Sixth Happiness

Sixth Happiness is a 1997 British drama film directed by Indian director Waris Hussein. It is based on the autobiography of Firdaus Kanga entitled Trying to Grow. Kanga played himself in this film about Britain, India, race and sex. Sixth Happiness is about Brit, a boy born with brittle bones who never grows taller than four feet, and his sexual awakening as family life crumbles around him. It is also about the Parsi or Parsees - descendants of the Persian empire who were driven out of Persia by an Islamic invasion more than a thousand years ago and settled in western India. Parsees had a close relationship with the British during the years of the Raj. Brit is named by his mother, both after his brittle bones, and in tribute to his mother's love of Britain. Brit's family is non-stereotypical: his parents are ardent Anglophiles with fond memories of the Raj and World War II. Brit is bright, spiky, opinionated and selfish with a razor-sharp wit, never a martyr or victim. He prefers the Kama Sutra to Shakespeare and does not allow gender or disability to come in the way of his desire for sex and love. Sixth Happiness also features performances from Souad Faress, Nina Wadia, Indira Varma, and Meera Syal.