Films that bond Asia
April 18th, 2008 - by Nazia VasiIf its not politicians and huge trade volumes that bond countries in Asia, its got to be films.
After 43 years of not a single Pakistani film being screened in India, Shoaib Mansoor directed “Khuda Kay Liye” (“In the Name of God”) was released to rave reviews in India. Its the first Pakistani film to have crossed the border since the India-Pakistan war in 1965, when Pakistani films were banned in India.
The effect has been a cultural two-way mirror dividing the countries, with Pakistan able to observe India (or a gaudier Bollywood version of India), but with Indians unable to see beyond their own frontiers.
The film gives many Indians their first glimpse of Pakistan. In a New York Times interview after the first screening of his film in India, Mansoor said “They had very surprising ideas about Pakistan. They asked: ‘Do you have taxis there?’ ‘Can women drive?’ ‘Are women allowed to go to university?’ Besides the initial shock of Pakistans development, the viewers were also amazed by the unexpected beauty of Pakistani houses
The bold and honest film portays two brothers, both talented musicians in Lahore, growing apart as they embrace different readings of Islam. The film is an attempt to project the tragedy of a liberal Muslim, who internally is not considered a good Muslim because of his modernity and outside his religion, he is labelled a fundamentalist just for having a Muslim name,” director Shoaib Mansoor told PTI in an e-mail interview.
Recently, two Indian blockbusters Aamir Khan’s “Tare Zameen Par” and Akshay Kumar-Katrina Kaif starrer “Welcome” were released in Pakistan this year. Bollywood blockbuster “Made in China” starring martial arts hero Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone is also currently being shot on the out skirts of Beijing and Shanghai and will be released next year.
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April 21st, 2008 at 2:27 pm
A quality film will have audience eveerywhere. Tare zameen par is also getting rare reviews in pakistan. It is the military rulers who feared Indian films but quality can win anytime.
People feel jealous of IPL in India while anyday Afridi and Shaiab akhtar can walk into any team,Again Military rulers appoionted officldom is responsible for this state of Paksitan
April 21st, 2008 at 3:41 pm
I would agree. Indian CD stores are full not just of Bollywood soundtracks but plenty of Pakistani artists such as Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, who is now being remixed for a far younger audience. There are, of course, more Muslims in India than in Pakistan, and the two countries are culturally closer than people realise - if you can get the military out of the way.