Forget the hype: Khuda Kay Liye is a great effort, not a great film
Originally published on NOWRUNNING.COM
Well, going by predictability, political correctness and the recent (and very welcome) spirit of bonhomie and goodwill surrounding relations and cultural exchange between India and Pakistan, I guess it would perhaps be appropriate for me to be nice and appreciate the first Pakistani film to find a release on this side of the border, especially since it is one that has been apparently appreciated worldwide for its groundbreaking portrayal of Islam and strong indictment of fundamentalism.
Khuda Kay Liye almost seems like a Pakistani ambassador to India- and that too with a message for peace- and it is with a broken heart and a weird sense of guilt (I almost feel as if I am being rude to a guest who has come to my house for the first time) that I say- truth be told, Khuda Kay Liye is not exactly a great film. Brave effort and noble attempt notwithstanding, the film is unquestionably a patchy effort, marred by didacticism and some limp performances. The film also gets tiresome after a point, and with its unnecessary and exhausting length of about 160 minutes, one is left desperately hoping for the film to end- for God's sake, if little else.
The film essentially attempts to capture the diabolic, warped image of Islam perpetuated by fundamentalists and the burning debate within Islam about its image, beliefs and tenets. It also showcases the plight of liberal Muslims caught up in a hostile crossfire, considered betrayers by other people of their faith, and terrorists by the West.
Khuda Kay Liye is about two brothers who share a common love for music. The elder one, Mansoor (Shaan) is a liberal Muslim, while the younger brother Sarmad (Fawad Ali) is seen to be slowly gravitating towards fanaticism under the influence of a radical cleric (Rasheed Naz). While Mansoor leaves for the US for further training in music and finds love in Janie (Austin Marie Sayre), Sarmad, who has renounced music for an ‘orthodox’ life forcibly marries his cousin Miriam (Iman Ali) on her father’s request, believing that he is saving her from becoming ‘impure’. Miriam, born and bred in the UK, is tricked by her spineless, hypocritical father into coming to Pakistan, where after being married against her wishes, she is sentenced to a life of virtual imprisonment with her husband at the Afghan border, where Sarmad joins a terrorist outfit.
The film thus follows two parallel and related narrative strands, wherein, on one hand Miriam desperately tries to escape her desolate, suffocating new life even as post 9/11, Mansoor’s happiness is also destroyed as he is wrongly arrested as a terror suspect by the FBI and subjected to inhuman torture.
It is a powerful premise, one that has potential to be tremendously compelling, and it's a pity that Khuda Ke Liye doesn’t really manage to hold together. The film that valiantly confronts burning issues suffers from a loose script and acting that ranges from average to pure cardboard, and ends up being far less affecting than it should have been. Shoaib Mansoor tries hard, but his direction is often amateurish, and robs the film of any real emotional force. Iman Ali, who plays Miriam, is also the only actor who manages to leave an impression, as the light-eyed actress confidently portrays her character's journey through anger, desperation, hope and freedom.
Miriam’s story also springs some surprisingly sparkling moments that beautifully convey the quiet desire of the suppressed womenfolk to live freely and help Miriam return to her own free life. Miriam finds companionship with them, as she learns to smile despite the pain of being violated, and empathizes with those women who have never known freedom. Meanwhile, we are reminded that happiness, however short-lived, can exist even in the bleakest vistas of human life.
Khuda Kay Liye is hardly provocative but is a bold effort, nevertheless- and it is good to see that it has been released and accepted with great warmth by its domestic audience. Though average at best as a film, it is a prayer for peace and sanity, something that the world really needs, and if the film manages to speak to its intended audience, Shoaib Mansoor can be proud of himself.
P.S: While the film didn't really set me thinking, it did leave me with a niggling and disturbing thought. While Khuda Kay Liye has impressively defied the might of clerics and fatwas in Pakistan to have a successful release; in our own 'free' country, Jodhaa-Akbar and Parzania haven't found a release and can hardly hope for one in the very states they are set: Rajasthan and Gujarat. It's a thought that's as scary as it is ironic, as democracy struggles to survive in India.
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2 comments:
Even befoe i had gone for Khuda Kay Liye, i was badly hoping that it does well. So much so that i was even willing to force myself to like it. And the first day reviews called it exactly what i wanted to hear out of it- given that to some extent i related to the subject.
But 40 minutes into the film and i couldn't take it any longer. that someone could so badly goof up an issue as serious as this was unfanthomable. Given its subject, even if you made a simple and clean film- it was bound to touch a chord with its audiences.
'Road to Guantenamo', a british production made in 2006, talks of almost exactly the same issues that KKL attempts to address. Its about four british muslim boys of pakistani origin who travel to pakistan/afghanistan to attend a wedding and then 9/11 happens. What follows is pure religious victimisation, thus questioning discriminating mob perceptions on religious grounds. And then the routine soul search for identity vis-a-vis religion and the following.
KKL, to me, made fun of the whole issue. It stook no stand and it said nothing. And to put it most bluntly- it beautifully avoided all the grey areas. The chracters were one-dimensionsal and what it lacked most was a sense of conflict in ways of questioning self & society with respect to religion.
I am not even getting into film technique and peformances. the film scene in pakistan is tragic, so one can forgo critiquing techniques. but for god's sake- atleast get your intent straight.
But to be fair, the fact that a film like this is at all made is applaudable, especially since it's in Pakistan. Even if itself failing to answer, it has atleast put forward the questions. It might not have worked for me, but a good many people have connected strongly with it and said many good things about it. And one needs to acknowledge that. Maybe it has even succeeded in its intent.
But the issue is way more complex and demands to be treated with alot more reason and respect. Lets not get all carried away and aletast seek to look through things.
A most cliched remark to this film has been- the film might be lacking, but, but- its heart is in the right place.
Only if it also had a head somewhere.
Couldn't agree more, Faisal.
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