For an internationally acclaimed movie which has been showered with praise by almost all newspapers in India, I expected it to be a really great - once in ten years sort of a movie. I think it is a good movie, but it is not that good of a movie. The issues raised in the movie are not new, they have been around for a long time, they have been debated for a long time, people have opined on these for a long time. But this I suppose is the first attempt where someone has really stepped up and tried to give a conclusive, case-closed sort of opinion on these issues which is indeed brave(considering this is a Pakistani movie), well researched and impressive.
*The Shortcomings -
This movie is very weak on its technical aspects. The story moves with a painfully slow pace. First ten minutes of the movie and you realize its going to be a really long one but then all the hype surrounding the movie is sufficient to keep you stick to the seat and just see what happens. The director of the movie(who has also written and produced this movie) has a great concept in hands but his handling of the subject matter could have been better.
The screenplay looks weak and the actors(well most of them except the two Maulanas, meaning a Moslem priest) are weak on acting part. It is apparent on the face within first 20-30 minutes that some actors are overacting and some are so wooden faced you don’t know whether they are angry or sad or happy or frustrated or irritated or concerned or what! You just sort of figure it out by the dialogues and the background music. But this kind of acting in an internationally acclaimed movie is simply unacceptable.
My assessment is that this movie scores points only on the its concept on which I will come in a while. But, even then, this movie deserves to be seen, because the above to shortcomings are not so terrible that you will miss a film of this intensity and importance.
The reason why you should see this movie -
Good Music. The music is simply superb. There are not too many songs, which I suspected initially, and the ones which are there, are placed very nicely and they are good to hear. The music is good and the lyrics are good.
This film shows the **clash between traditional and conservatice interpretation of Islamic Law
as against a correct (please note, not liberal but correct)interpretation.
*The story starts with the age old debate - whether a Moslem girl can marry a non-Moslem? Some people are of the impression that in Islam men are allowed to marry women outside the religion but the same is not applicable to women. I think this issue has been conclusively answered in this film - that yes they permitted, but it is preferred if they do not.
- Then a well to do Syed family is shown, both sons of which are professional musicians. One of them goes to USA to study music and one of them brainwashed by a local Maulana quits music thinking it to be a sin and impermissible in Islam. This brother goes to Afghanistan and trains to be a Taliban fighter who ends up killing fellow Moslems and then starts to seriously question the whole concept of Jihad. In the name of Islam he is made to several things which stricto sensu are not permissible.
Consequently the second question which arises is that is music and painting and other such creative arts prohibited under Islam to such an extent they are considered Haram? For non-urdu speaking people, some thing if said to be Haram means it is an evil and if you do it you will go to hell.
This question is again settelled conclusively by citing various religious authorities of Islam that creative arts like Mausiqui(music) are infact a gift by the God to the mankind are not banned or prohibited in any form.
Also, eventually comes the question of wearing traditional Moslem clothes as some conservative people in Islam are of the opinion that young generation people who wear jeans and shirts are not good moslems. The question is again answered, pretty authoritatively, that clother do not matter as long as the person follows the true tenets of Islam and remains a pious Moslem inside. For it might not be possible for him to wear traditional clothes in places like Alaska(etc).
- The brother studying music in USA is arrested by FBI after 9/11 thinking him to be a terrorist or connected with a terrorist. He tries to convince the FBI that he is not a terrorist and that in fact he loves USA and just like many Americans he has heard the name of Osama only on CNN. But he is subjected to various tortures and finally he becomes mentally incapacitated and deported to Pakistan. Here I think there is a little flaw, because he marries a girl in USA who is a US Citizen and by the reason of marriage he becomes a US Citizen so how can he be deported and prior to that subjected to torture and detention(Please note that after his apprehension he was not given his phone call and was not allowed an attorney, was never charged of any offense and never tried for any thing, so his apprehension can not be an arrest hence the word detention). This again raises another issue - as he writes a letter to his wife just before he lost his mental capacity - that just because some Americans tortured him and caused him pain does not means he hates USA - similarly he urges that just because some Moslems have caused pain and sufferring to your country please don’t hate all Moslems.
This is actually a world wide appeal and makes all the sense in the world.
- The performance of Naseer Ud Din Shah as the Maulana who give the correct interpretation of Islamic Law, by repeatedly referring to religious texts to support is contentions, is superb as he shows that he is no activist who is using smart arguments to interpret traditional law and trying to find out meanings where there exist none. He is shown as a level headed reasonable and wise old man who is disgusted and irritated by the conservative and extremist people who in the name of Islam are doing all the things Islam prohibits. A great thing he says - "Din mein Dhadhi hai, Dadhi mein Din nahin" - the beard is in the religion, the religion is not in the beard. **This ten minute of performance is worth watching for all costs.
All in all it is a good movie, it needs to be watched and understood.