KHUDA KE LIYE(IN THE NAME OF GOD):MIRRORING THE BROKEN TIME
Those who have watched the movie might get a bit disheartened by some of the stiff performances, a slightly plodding pace due to the intrusion of didacticism and deploringly simple stroyline with loose ends, but one thing that all of you must have experienced like me is that is the movie's command to make us watch and get immersed into it till the end of its near two-and-half hours long runtime.
It's the content that has given the movie its unique character. A nd what's so special about it? It explores the labyrinth of crises of a particular country. It unfolds a manifesto in defence of the attributes of a particular religion whicha has been disgraced both by the outsiders of its community and its own practioners who are shameless in siphoning gain by projecting it as the 'opium of the people'. It talks about a handful of individuals who as a synecdoche for the humanity, suffer due to the tentacled fall-outs of a particular juncture of time, a moment that is apocalyptic enough to be tagged as history and yet devilish enough to tear apart the veins and arteries of other previous glorious histories.
Though the film incorporates many people both fom the Pakistanis back home and its diaspora, and the Westerners, the story revolves around three people __ Two musician brother Mansoor(Shaan) and Sharmad(Fawad Afzal Khan) and Maryam(Iman Ali). While the brothers represnt the native Pakistanis, Maryam stands for the diasporic Pakistani. While the elder brother Mansoor epitomises the liberal Islam and Pakistan by mixing up with the cosmopolitan students of American through his song, the junior becomes a victim of to the fundamentalism. Ironically, Maryam's life also gets entangled with him. And till the conclusive and enlightening speech of Maulana Wali(Nasiruddin Shah) as the spokesman of Islam, those three undergo exploitation of different kinds __ Mansoor for belonging to the ethnic and Muslim community in a foreign land in the post-9/11 reality, Sharmad for wrongly embracing the fundamentalism, and Iman for being Westernised and a woman in her native land.
What's interesting is the way the binaries are placed to hammer home the motifs. They are in plenty such as younger brother: elder brother, Talibani religious head: Maulana Wali, two brothers: Iman, Elder brother's American wife: US investigation bureau officials etc.
The title of the movie is significant and profound in its connotations. It hints at the layered thematic implications of the movie. The film-maker in stead of 'For God's sake'( Which seems to be more popular if not the metaphorical translation) preferred opt 'In the Name of God'. I personally feel this choice has been a well-thought out one. 'For God's Sake' is usually associated with negativity, exclammation if not with the termination of a communication. While the 'In the Name of God' is usually associated with the beginning of a speech and has an added quotient of religiosity. And this helps the director to plus the film with much more depth. We get shocked to see what in the name of God have been done in stead of what have been supposed to be done.
Last but not the last, let me name those other factors contributing heavily to the success of the film such as the glamour and expressiveness of Iman, the stellar presence of Shhan, the performance of Nasiruddin Shah, the sincerity of Shoai Mansoor and the music of Rohail Hyatt whose fans and admirers would otherwise curse me and would not give me a rating.
More abstracts about the Khuda Ke Liye