Adil Najam
(UPDATE: You can view this movie here).
Shaib Mansoor’s feature film Khuda Kay Liye: In The Name of God is to be released in Pakistan on July 20, 2007. There is great buzz about it; as there should be.
Regular readers know how much respect, even reverance, I have for Shoaib’s work. For me he is one of the single most talented Pakistanis I have ever had the pleasure of knowing.
Indeed, one of the single most talented Pakistanis ever.
As we have written before, he may also be the single most under-rated Pakistani artist, since his contribution to TV music, to TV drama, to TV comedy, TV stage shows and to popular music remains unknown to many; too many.
I have not seen the movie myself yet and have been hearing about it from a number of people – including some directly involved – for quite some while. The promo clips are now available on YouTube and – no surprise – the quality of cinematography, of artistic composition, of music, of attention to detail all look great. Typical Shoaib Mansoor. Of course, how the whole package comes across remains to be seen. This is, of course, his first feature film but he is already a master of each of the genres in a movie and his long plays (like Alpha, Bravo, Charlie) must have trained him well for this.
To me, of course, the story is Shoaib Mansoor. For others, however, there are other draws. The cast includes Lollywood superstar Shaan, Bollywood maestro Naseeruddin Shah, Iman Ali (who is PTV’s Abid Ali’s daughter and was in Shoaib’s Anarkali music video), and other notables. But the real story here is the story. Or, rather, the topic of the story.
The film has a wonderful and wonderfully rich website, and according to the synopsis posted there:
The film is about the difficult situation in which the Pakistanis in particular and the Muslims in general are caught up since 9/11. There is a war going on between the Fundamentalists and the Liberal Muslims. This situation is creating a drift not only between the Western world and the Muslims, but also within the Muslims. The educated and modern Muslims are in a difficult situation because of their approach towards life and their western attire. They are criticized and harassed by the fundamentalists and on the other hand the Western world sees them as potential suspects of terrorism just because of their Muslim names. This paradox is resulting in great suffering for a forward looking Muslim.
This paradox of the divided society is, of course, a constant theme of ATP too. It is always a controversial subject here and will be much much more controversial for Khuda Kay Liye. It is, despite the controversy, a topic that we as a society have to confront. Thoughtfully and seriously. Since I have not seen the movie I cannot say how he has treated the subject, but based on his track record if there is anyone who has the ability to deal with this difficult issue sensitively and without turning things into slogans, it is Shoaib Mansoor. All the more reason to watch the movie and refrain from judging it in advance.
But there is another important angle to this too. GEO is promoting the movie as a ‘revival’ of Pakistan cinema. As a long time fan of Pakistani cinema, I certainly hope it is. Again, if anyone can do this, Shoaib Mansoor can.
I saw a post today in Metroblog Lahore that made me think that he just might. It was not about this movie, but about a new very modern movie house opening in Lahore. I have long believed that the reason Pakistani cinema declined is not just because of the movies, but also because of the state of movie houses. Well, this new theatre – the DHA Cinema – is quite something.
With tickets at Rs. 250 and Rs. 500 it may be pricy, but from the pictures at the site, it is clearly something that could attract a lot of people simply for the theatre experience. Interestingly, this theater also opens on July 20, and one of the movies it is opening with is Khuda Kay Liye. Coincidence? Probably not.
I must confess that I have been planning to write this post for nearly two weeks now. I had originally thought of calling it something like ‘The Other Lal Masjid Story’ simply because Abdul Rashid Ghazi had taken an interest in this movie. According to Daily Times (July 3, 2007):
Lal Masjid has demanded a ban on a yet-to-be released movie, Khuda Kay Liye, declaring it blasphemous… “The film is against Islamic norms and traditions and is being released on a private TV channel without prior approval from a censor board. We won’t allow this,â€? said Abdul Rashid Ghazi, the Lal Masjid deputy mullah, who did not mention his source of information about the movie. He said he would not object to the movie if ulema approved it. He demanded that the government form a board to review the film. “The government will be held responsible if the film is released without being censored,â€? he said.
I had not understood then, nor understand now, whether his source of objection was the subject matter, the fact that it has an Indian actor in it, or a statement of support for the Censor Board. I guess we will never really know. I do know, however, that it is bound to be controversial for same for at least two of those reasons. As for myself, I will reserve my judgement until after I see the movie. But anything from Shoaib Mansoor, and anything on this subject, I do want to see.
meyBhePaksitan sahab, if you bother to read my point of view on my blog then it would help you to understand what I am trying to say. Thanks. Read what “asa” just said. JJ is free to decide whatever he wants for himself. In todays world, people don’t even listen to their parents who give them birth and bring them up then what’s the worth of Shoaib? I personally believe that shoaib’s anger is useless and he shouldn’t act like one which he’s condemning himself that is ‘a extremist’.
i do respect Shoaib Mansoor but his statement regarding music & painting is very disappointed..everyone has different point of view but it doesn’t mean enforce these views on masses.
very sad
Disappointed Shoaib Fan
Adnan Siddique and All,
Before you start reading what I have to say , please ensure I am not a left wing liberal or right wing extremist, how I want to be recognized is a human being and a Pakistani and I really don’t care what you think of me.
I want to share my views with all of you and in particular Adnan Siddique, but for that we will have to go to the basics first, I hope you would agree with the fact that we are all born as humans through the same natural process as all other inhabitations of this planet and later azan is prayed in our ears, to make us Muslims and then we practice the belief that there is one God and we all have to return to him and then we learn the ways of returning to him in the best manner.
Now having said that I believe you would agree we have the feelings as rest of the people in this word have and similar emotions, same stands true for Shoaib Mansoor , I believe he has the right to feel angry with his friend for whom he did the best he could. Who enjoyed glory, fame and everything because of Shoaib Mansoor, if he has made a movie based on his own way of thinking with which he thinks he can help humanity and if we find it extremism, I believe it is not human of us.
Painting to me is the very basic way of putting your thoughts in black and white and humans have done this from time immemorial, if there had been no paintings archaeologists would have failed to learn about human history.
If Junaid Jamshed doesn’t like music and paintings and he doesn’t want to act, he has every right not to like it and not to do it, but that doesn’t make him extremist or fundamentalist. Every one on this planet has the right to live his life the ways he wants unless he is a source of harm to others and to me same holds true for all the so called “fundamentalists
@ Indscribe
There are a couple of variations of the poster. The one that is posted here is the engish version. You can view the urdu version on the official website.
And usually for readability purposes English is the most commonly used language. (You also posted your message in English ;)
Great post. In India there is little information about Pakistani movies. Will checkout the Youtube for clips.
But it’s an Urdu movie, isn’t it! The poster don’t have a single letter of Urdu. Minor correction needed in spelling of Shoaib in the beginning of the story, first word.
I wonder why Adil bhai didn’t quote the main part of Shoaib’s statement which demonstrates extremism by Shoaib that he got pissed because of Junaid’s personal decision.
One morning i was going through a newspaper and i saw my friend junaid jamshed’s interview in it. After looking at his new attire in the photograph that ace the article published in it. I could not stop myself from reading it. The more i read the more sad i felt. He had announced quiting music after being convinced that it was “haram
After having read the preview of this movie, it looks like although Junaid Jamshed refused to act in any of Shoaib Mansoor’s movie, he still very much forms the part of it, as probably one of the character roles around him. It would be definitely interesting to watch “a change
I really like the modern approach that Shoaib Mansoor has taken on this subject, and its imperative that he shows the muslims in a positive light who are more liberal and adaptable to cultural changes. Change is inevitable and rather than trying to take everyone back, change should be formulated in a positive manner.
The feel of the film looks good, and I hope that it paves the way for a lot of new aspiring filmmakers and revive or dead cinema.
Goodluck Mr. Mansoor!