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.
“shoaib’s reaction proves that how intolerant are left wing liberals and seculars that they created all fuss due to Junaid’s personal decision”
…..wow Adnan, you mean to say that this fundametalist/ fascist/ secular person showed his blatant extremism by…….
…….voicing his opinion ! What an outrage !!! What intolerance !!
only talented ppl can bring the change. so lookin forward towards the release.
How can we get this movie in USA. Any one has information. I have not seen movie but by reading artcile I think as living in USA I have to deal myself with similar situtaion.
Sometimes it seems i am living in limbo between two worlds. I question myslef do I have to choose between two extremes?
Fine arts and music are very important pillar of human thinking and I do support Shoaib Mansoor.
Secular fundamentalists are the new totalitarians
By: Tobias Jones (The Guardian) excerpt:
But what they are really against is [tolerance]. They - call them “secular fundamentalistsâ€?. The secular fundamentalists saw an opening. Because we live in a multiconfessional society, they fostered the falsehood that wearing a crucifix or a veil or a turban was deeply offensive to other faiths. They pretended to be protecting religious sensibilities as a pretext to strip us of all religious expressions. In 2006 Jack Straw and BA fell into the fundamentalists’ trap.
And so the [secular] fundamentalists deployed an opposite tactic. Instead of pretending to protect religious sensibilities, they went on the offensive and sought to give offence. The subsequent reactions to the play Behzti in Birmingham, to Jerry Springer the Opera and to the Danish cartoons were wheeled out as examples of why religious groups are unable to live with our cherished freedom and tolerance.
In recent years the nastier side of this totalitarianism has become blatantly apparent. It emerged with the hijab issue in France. With the hijab ban in French schools, a state was banishing religion not only from its corridors, but also from its citizens.
It was an assertion that after centuries of the naked public square (denuded of religion referents) the public now too had to go naked. The former had been true tolerance, something exceptional and laudable. It allowed everyone to bring their own cosmic testimony to the square. But this new form of “tolerance” changed things. From everyone being welcome, it had become everyone but.
There’s a background to all this. Since 2001, lazy intellectuals have been allowed to get away with repeating the nonsense that terrorism and war are the consequences of belief in God. Believers are ridiculed for being, in contrast to the stupendously brainy atheists, very dim. Listen to Richard Dawkins’ comment on Nadia Eweida (the BA employee who refused to take off her cross): “she had one of the most stupid faces I’ve ever seen.” Nice.
Believers are able to differentiate sin from crime, they have a moral register more nuanced than most…. believers can deal with social anarchy much better than the state ever can.
That is why these fundamentalists are so in evidence. They’re not only needled by their own hypocrisy; they are also furious that believers have broken the old pact to stay out of public debate. Witness, for example, Mary Riddell’s astonishing sentence in the Observer (try replacing “religion” with “homosexuality” to get the point): “secularists do not wish to harm religion or deny its great cultural influence. They simply want it to know its place.” In other words: get back in the closet.
Agnosticism and pragmatism meant that believers were judged not by the causes of their belief, but by its consequences. Everyone could taste the fruits, even those who couldn’t believe in a sustaining, invisible root. These new militants [secular fundamentalists], however, believe themselves to be the only arbiters of taste; they want to eradicate the root and cause. They will dictate what you can wear and what you can say. That, after all, is what totalitarians do.
If shoaib said something about JJ, shouldn’t JJ be the one complaining first? Sounds to me a case of ‘jan na pehchaan baree amma salaam’.
Going to Pakistan in a couple of weeks. Will surely catch the movie (I’m a fan of Shoaib) alongwith my sister (who’s a fan of the new Junaid) and I’m sure we’ll both enjoy it very much (cause we both have good taste).
Thank you Adil for this post. I look forward to watching the movie in a cinema house. I haven’t watched a movie in a Pakistani cinema house for many years for the same reasons you have mentioned.
But, wait a minute, where am I going to watch it? The Lal Masjid folks had burnt down the only cinema house in Islamabad 3 years ago. I don’t know if it ever started again.
And, Adnan Siddiqui, thank you for posting Shoaib Mansoor’s comments about JJ. I am sure he echoes the thoughts of many Pakistanis.
Saad,
That is the entire issue.. they’ve done it… as usual. I am as usual disgusted by the underhandedness our neighbors in the east are capable of.
Maybe people like Adil Najam should make an effort to clear up this lie about this brilliant movie.
-YLH
PS: On another note thank god someone has spoken against Junaid Jamshed’s Fraud.