For the Love of God (Khuda Kay Liye)

I haven’t read the reviews so I don’t know what the critics are saying, and in all honesty I couldn’t care less about the damn critics. This is primarily because at heart I’m a critic myself and do, in all humility, value my opinion more than anybody else’s. This is also because the only reason I went to see this movie was Iman Ali. Had very low expectations because after all, no matter which camera is used, what’s captured is still desi bull shit bu,t boy oh boy, was I ever surprised. And enthralled. And a bit overwhelmed,

First off, hats, shirts, pants, sock and even shoes off to Shoaib Mansoor for the massive balls he has shown in making this movie the way that he has. Bravo! Not-so-gentle story teller, you went on a limb to make a statement and you have succeeded brilliantly. Granted the direction was a bit shady at moments, the war scenes were shoddy, the climactic court scene was a bit too tame and lame for the subject matter, the acting could have used massive polishing but on the whole, damn good job. He intends to put indelible images on the screen and does so with remarkable ease and unapologetic impunity, managing to mark a viewer’s mind as well as the screen. The sight of a burka clad woman being dragged back into her personal hell over a raging river does not require the breath-stopping beauty of Iman Ali to bring it substance. And the scene with Shaan introducing himself to the group of musicians from all over the world, only to have them all join in as willing subordinates was a masterpiece of movie making which even the liked of Copolla would be proud of. The only other scene that has had the power to move me as much as that scene did was from Braveheart, and if you need to be told which scene I’m talking about you obviously haven’t seen Braveheart. That is too high praise, perhaps, if I allowed myself to let the rapture wear off I’ll think of a less respectable point of reference to gauge Shoaib’s work but I’m going to go with first impressions here because I think the movie has earned it. There were flaws, yes, I think the mullah bashing went too far into gratuitous territory, but it makes very little difference since maybe, and this is a very cautious maybe here, such extreme measures are exactly what are needed in the context of how polarized our society has become. Capturing this dangerously polarized society on film so well, so completely, and so effectively required not only skill but also guts which Shoaib Mansoor, in fact the entire team, has proven they have in spades.

If I were to boil my opinion down to one thing that takes the movie past mere greatness and into immortal waters, I would fail. Because no matter how long I boil my opinion, two things emerge as exemplary.

First of all, the Music. Its not much in terms of random listening, I don’t think the songs possess much strength without the images in the movie to supplement and substantiate them, but together they make the perfect couple. The crescendos set the blood pumping and the a cappella humming dragged the tears out of even the most cynical eyes. It could have been better, maybe, but as far as I know, it hasn’t been yet.

Secondly, Shaan. Never been a fan of the stone faced, gandasa wielding hulk, but he earned my respect in that video for fusion with the only other hottie in Pakistani media today. In this movie though, he was fantastic. Absolutely marvelously so. I cannot possibly be judicious enough to his performance since I’m no authority but in the words of Mr. Burns, I know what I hate and I did not hate Shaan’s performance. And a performance is exactly what it was, in every sense of the word.

Now on to the bad stuff, and unfortunately there was plenty. Mostly the acting of everyone other than Shaan, the guy who plays the nasty mullah, Naseer-ud-din Shah, the foreign cast members and Iman Ali to some extent, was a huge let down. The new guy has potential but failed miserably here, going with that age-resistant Faisal dude might have been a better choice. The freak who played Iman’s father is a prime candidate for a beheading, so awful was his sad attempt at creating a character. But you know, this was after all a paki movie and as such I think it deserves all the benefit of the doubt it can get and therefore, bad acting and poor editing and shitty special effects apart, this flick rocks and must be seen. I will not wax political about the issues raised in the movie except to say that they are extremely relevant and extremely important and if there has ever been a movie out of the subcontinent that has taught me anything, its this one. Sure Iman ali cannot pull off a British accent but at least she tried, and i think the mere fact that they thought about making her accent sound authentic speaks volumes about the professionalism with which they have worked on this movie. I am impressed, make no bones about it, I am and I think for good reason too.

So yeah, even though no one really cares about what I have to say or even comes to this blog anymore, that is my opinion and I strongly endorse this movie to anyone with half a mind.

And since I’m on a roll here, I’m gonna go ahead and dole out a review of the brand spanking new DHA cinema as well. It’s pretty decent, so far, but not really as good as a proper western theatre, but again, since it’s the Stan, the effort itself deserves a commendation. The electricity disappeared midway, and they took a bit too long to get the generator running and there was a freaking intermission with such bright lighting that it felt like a hospital all of a sudden but it was immaculately clean, the staff was extremely polite and courteous and the sound system was actually pretty good. The real test of the equipment will be Transformers but from what I can tell, DHA cinema has filled a void in the lives of the decent folk of Lahore.

Now to the statistical analysis because I want to act all well versed enough in the medium to quantify my opinion (points out of 5):

. Direction = 3 ½

. Editing =2 ½

. Music = 5

. Cinematography = 4

. Substance = 5

. Sound effects = 1

. Visual effects = 2

. Overall = 4

Now for Cast related categories, I’m only mentioning the characters that mattered (out of 5 again):

. Shaan (Mansoor) = 6

. Fawad (Sarmad) = 1.5

. Iman (Mariam) = 3

. Naseer (good mullah) = 5

. Bad Mullah = 5 ½ (forgot to mention earlier that he gave a very powerful performance)

. Shaan’s Dad = 2 ½

. Shaan’s mom = 3

. Shaan’s wife = 4

. Crazy INS guy = 4

. Iman’s beloved = 2

. Iman’s Dad = -400

. Shaan’s crazy ass maulvi friend = 3

. Everybody else = 3

. Ensemble = 4

So there it is, my thoughts on a movie that has a very realistic chance of breathing some life back into a comatose Pakistani film industry. Judging by the number and variety of people at the theatre the public imagination and interest has been captured and satisfied. There were fat scary uncles, laughing raucously at the funny bits, and explicitly attired hotties weeping at Iman’s fate without a fight breaking out or comments being passed. In one fell swoop, the experience of watching Khuda ke Liye at the DHA cinema has exposed two very promising developments for the denizens of Lahore, 1. Good movies and 2. A good spot to make out without being harassed. It’s a win win situation.

Go watch the damn movie. Its worth the effort, the 250 rupee price tag and the dealing with average humanity. No Pakistani, or Muslim for that matter, can afford to miss Shaoib's rendition of a thoroughly Pakistani conundrum. With any luck, you'll come away a bit smarter than before.