KHUDA KE LIYE WATCH IT!

WHERE DOES IT HEAD: - The film is about the difficult situation in which Pakistanis in particular and the Muslims in general are caught up since 9 / 11. This state of affairs is causing a drift not only between the western world and the Muslims but also within the Muslim community. The knowledgeable and modern Muslims are in difficult situation because of their approach towards life and their western attire. They are criticized and harassed by the fundamentalist on the other hand and western world sees them as a potential suspect of terrorism just because of their Muslim names.
The movie revolves around two musician brothers – Mansoor and Sarmad - one of whom transitions into religious extremism and the other falls victim to racial profiling. It portrays an upper middle class family in Lahore with a mix of traditional and broadminded values. The movie plot starts somewhere in pre 9/11 timeframe and ends in late 2002 or 2003. The brothers have their own music group and are shown as beginning to make a mark on the music scene in Pakistan. The younger brother (Sarmad) gets involved in an extremist company whereas the elder brother (Mansoor) moves to Chicago to attend a music school. Two more angles enter the movie where Mansoor gets into a romantic relationship in Chicago and eventually marries a white American and when he is coming back to his house, his neighbor blames him to be a terrorist and Sarmad deceitfully marries his British born and raised cousin. In the latter case, the UK based uncle of the boys, worried by the outlook of his daughter having an affair with a white British, traps her into a visit to Pakistan and sends her into an Afghan village where she is powerfully married. The movie moves into post 9/11 territory when Mansoor is picked up by law enforcement agencies in the middle of the night from his apartment and detained allegedly in an extra constitutional prison and humiliated in all ways. Sarmad on the other hand gets involved in the battle between Taliban, US forces and Northern Alliance.

THE RIGHT: The story is interesting as it handles two major issues – religious extremism and racial profiling - and strings them well. There are other issues also that the movie tries to focus on; condition of women during Taliban days in Afghanistan, the illogical issues of acceptance of music and cultural contextualization of Islam and the way various groups are putting forward their own version of the religion. But overall Shoaib Mansoor (the writer and the director) has been able to put the things from his viewpoint pretty well. The portrayal of most of the characters is good. The acting by almost all the actors is very controlled. Shaan, who played the role of the elder brother Mansoor, plays his role with full solemnity, particularly when he is in detention. Rasheed Naz, who played the fundamental Maulana Tahiri, gives a great performance. The way he handles some dialogues like ‘jab aurat ko pyaar karte hain toh dil se sochte hain par jab allah ko pyaar karna hai to dimaag se sochte hain‘or ‘ye billo ke ghar jaane ka kya matlab hai‘. Shoaib Mansoor does a creditable job in direction.

The depiction of the protagonist family, the village in Afghanistan, the changeover of Sarmad where he is sandwiched in the thought processes of Mansoor and the radical Maulana and the nuances and the layers in the Pakistani society has been done very well. There are no song-only-parts that go on in the background wherever appropriate and that keep the movie on track. The movie was missing a balancing part on religious scholarship until Maulana Wali comes into the picture later in the movie. Up to this point the discussion between what is allowed in religion and what is not was happening between a radical Maulana and novice. Naseeruddin Shah, playing the character Maulana Wali, as expected gives an outstanding performance – arguably the best one in the movie. It is a short cameo but is one of the most important. He is a well known Maulana in Lahore who is invited by the court to give his opinion on religious matters.

The best dialogues in the movie have been written for Maulana Wali and Naseeruddin Shah recites them as good they could be. On Mariam taunting him that it does not matter whether he does his namaz before or after as it is just an exercise, he is amused and politely replies ‘meri ibaadat ko exercise kahne wali ya to bahut pahunchi hui hai ya bahut dukhi hai‘. On issue of dress he says ‘Kaheen aisa to nahi ki ham Abu Jahal bane rahe hain. Kyonki dadhi toh Abu Jahal ke bhi thi or holiya bhi wohi tha.’

THE WRONG -There are though things in the details where one may feel are over-simplified. The two glitches are that of the UK based uncle and American investigator whose actions do not always appear very realistic. There are some glitches like why Maryam did not send the letter to UK earlier which she sends later in the movie? Or why the family was not finding out about their younger son while he was away in Afghanistan? Or why the elder brother Mansoor’s wife did not intimate his family about his arrest in US? Or how the judges or the lawyers in a Muslim country are not aware about the Islamic rights of the girl in a marriage?

WHERE SHOULD YOU HEAD: - The interesting thing about the film is how it connects the activities in three continents unlike the western Indian and Pakistani films based on romantic sagas, dances and songs. Overall it’s an excellent movie. It is an eye opener for me and it has taken me to another realm of understanding how people perceive things differently. For instance how Maulana Tahiri interpreted the teachings of Allah in a different way compared to how Maulana Wali who interpreted the same teaching of Allah in a different way. There was a vast contrast between both the perceptions though the teachings were the same. It ends positively in various ways and has been handled by the director quite well. The last scene has Sarmad (who is back into tradition) and Shershah (in lieu of the Maulana Tahiri) competing for the Azaan. The competition for the mike for who speaks for Islam has been shown to begun!