Kismet

Set in a mythic past inspired by Middle Eastern folklore, the film presents a timeless Baghdad where magic and court politics mingle. The period is not anchored to a specific year, emphasizing fairy-tale atmospherics over history. Disguises, prophecies, and grand gestures drive the story.

Baghdad is depicted as a glittering metropolis sparkling with magic and royal power. The streets host magicians, gardeners, viziers and caliphs, all within a dreamlike Arabian Nights ambience. The setting frames Hafiz's double life and Marsinah's fate, including the exile to Hassir.

💖 Love & Class

The romance at the heart of Kismet crosses lines of status and ambition. Marsinah, the daughter of Hafiz, falls for the Caliph’s gardener’s son, a gardener's son who is really the Caliph in disguise. Jamilla, the Queen of the Grand Vizier's harem, becomes entangled with Hafiz, showing how love can disrupt strict social hierarchies. The story uses marriage as a bargaining tool, revealing how power structures manipulate intimate relationships.

🪄 Illusion & Deception

Hafiz lives a double life as the King of Beggars by day and the Prince of Hassir by night, blurring truth and performance. He deceives the Vizier by presenting himself as Hassir's prince and later uses magical tricks to threaten the Caliph. The Caliph and Hafiz's plan to outmaneuver each other is built on misdirection and disguise. The plot hinges on lies that threaten to unravel, until truth finally alters the course of fate.

⏳ Kismet & Destiny

Much of the plot turns on fate and the idea of kismet determining outcomes. Hafiz crafts schemes to secure Marsinah's future, only to have the gardener's son reveal himself as the Caliph. The walls Hafiz builds around his daughter's dreams eventually come down in a moment of reckoning. In the end, destinies converge as lovers unite and a royal future is forged.

🏛️ Power & Politics

Court intrigue drives the narrative: the Grand Vizier seeks Marsinah's hand and manipulates court life to secure power. The Caliph's authority is tested by Hafiz's deception and the ever-present threat of assassination. The Vizier is killed in the palace conflict, and Hafiz is exiled, illustrating how personal desires collide with political scheming. The ending shows power rebalanced as the lovers' futures are resolved against the backdrop of a tearing down of walls.