April 19, 2008...8:25 pm
khuda ke liye
I had to really gather all my strength to watch this film. Basically I am an escapist and want to believe that everyone in this world is happy. The impression I had about this film was that it is a beautiful but depressing film. After watching the film I can say that Khuda Ke Liye is an emotional film made from heart. It is a thought-provoking film which reflects the state of the Muslim identity after 9/11. Fanaticsm, racial profiling, feminism, generation gap are the other issues touched in the film. I have read and heard about the way Asian females suffer at the hands of their conservative parents in UK. This double standards of Asian parents (in this case Muslim) living abroad has been highlighted very effectively.
Shoaib Mansoor the director of the film has successfully conveyed the message that all Muslims are not terrorists and should not be looked at with suspicion and prejudice. There may be fundamentalist clerics who are against music,painting and the other art forms, but there are others who understand the spirit of Islam. Naseeruddin Shah has potrayed the role of one such moderate yet religious Muslim brilliantly in his 10 minute role. Nobody could have done it better than him. The best scene however is a woman closing the door on her father who can’t see her with a white boy. He finds nothing wrong in living with a white woman himself (there may be better scenes than this but as a woman I could appreciate this one the most).
The music of the film was good. Among the actors other than Naseerudin Shah, Shan was good. Iman Ali was just about OK. I am reasonably familiar with Urdu, that helped me enjoy the film although even if you don’t understand too much Urdu you can appreciate the film.
I will put it under essential viewing category for everybody who loves good cinema.
20 Comments
April 20, 2008 at 12:48 am
sounds like an interesting movie, too bad it in Urdu
April 20, 2008 at 4:44 pm
Hmm.. I am glad that you found the movie worth writing for. Its quite surprising that its doing reasonably good despite no masala which is the natural ingredient in Indi cinema.
By the way as you mentioned that the movie is in modern day Urdu. It made me curious that how an average Indian understands the dialogues in plays/films like Ghalib (Gulzar’s TV serial) or Umrao Jan (Rekha’s version)?? Do they read subtitles?
April 20, 2008 at 6:39 pm
@ Prerna: A Pakistani friend and I, classmates at Cambridge, spoke often in what she thought was Urdu and I thought was Hindi. One day, our classmates asked us if we speak the same language, to which she said she spoke Urdu and I said I spoke Hindi. Then, we were both surprised to a great extent that we understood each other perfectly well.
I think this may answer Ammar’s question about comprehensibility. No sub-titles are needed, Ammar. By and large, most people in North India understand the large number of words that have crossed over from Urdu to day-to-day spoken Hindustani/ Hindi. Some words may go above the heads of those who are young. But the generation now in the 60s and 70s studied Urdu as their first language and may have influenced the understanding of our generation (their progeny). I could not comment on those in their 20s although my cynical observation is that many do not know any one language with any degree of proficiency.
Some of us, including both Prerna and I, appreciate ghazals beyond the melody. In my case, my father started teaching me interpretation when I was 7 so I am quite familiar with Urdu and Arabic expressions. Nowadays however, in their efforts to popularise the form, some ‘artists’ have blurred the line between ‘geet’ and ‘ghazal’ which bugs me no end, as it does purists with greater understanding of the language.
April 21, 2008 at 12:07 am
@ Shefaly
Ok I asked for it
Thanks for answering my question.
As far as the difference between Ghazal n Geet is concerned. There are certain mandatory items like ‘radeef’ ‘kaafia’ ‘maqtaa’ and ‘matlaa’ that makes ghazal different from nazm or geet. So no matter how much one tries no artist can possibly mix it.
April 21, 2008 at 12:55 am
Thanks Shefaly, for answering.//In my case, my father started teaching me interpretation when I was 7 so I am quite familiar with Urdu and Arabic expressions//you remind me of my own childhood.
Ammar, I am surprised,you guys watch Hindi films, you should know that ‘Hindustani’ is a mixture of Hindi and Urdu.
I met somebody at a party who had visited Pakistan a few years ago.He asked somebody at a bookshop in Pakistan if they kept books by Indian authors.The sales guy didn’t know much.This Indian guy saw Diwan-E-Ghalib and said but you do have Ghalib.It is difficult to claim Ghalib or for that matter any other Urdu writer as yours or ours.I read this on the back of an autorickshaw-
Faiz said ‘Bol ke lab azzad hain tere,nyaya mangne ke liye aage badhiye’.I don’t know what category it falls in- Urdu or Hindi.I am sure this guy didn’t even know that Faiz was a Pakistani poet.
As far as the song and dance in Indian films is concerned there are lots of films being made in India these days without the regular masala and are being appreciated especially among the multiplex crowd.
Rajiv, I am sure the English version or the one with French subtitles would be out soon and you can enjoy it then.
April 21, 2008 at 1:14 am
@ Ammar: You clearly have not heard the attempts by Pankaj Udhas to murder ghazals…
He takes a ghazal (the poem) and sets it to a tune that just kills the whole manner of delivery that makes for the joy of listening to it. So my point was a ‘composite’ one if you will, about the end product. BTW some of the elements e.g. radeef are common to geet as a category too. Matlaa and maqtaa definitely are not, but are they not also easy to miss with poor delivery?
I once saw Ghulam Ali in concert in Calcutta (1994) and I have never wanted to see any ghazal singer ever since. He is a class apart. And from Pakistan..
@ Prerna: Lucky us!
My friend from Pakistan (Lahore) told me that she has seen nearly all Bollywood films ever made. They are pirated widely and since many a time, girls cannot go out alone, they watch a lot of films.
April 21, 2008 at 2:36 am
Shefaly,
my father says about Pankaj Udhas-”in jaison nain ghazal ko mossici ka ghulam bana diya hai.” However we can give him some credit for popularising Ghazal(or whatever it is) among the masses.
You are right Ghulam Ali is a class apart.There are others who are good too.Jagjit Singh and not to forget the great Mehndi Hasan.
April 21, 2008 at 7:59 am
@ Prerna: I agree with your dad!
To my chagrin, I find that what Pankaj Udhas has achieved is a sense of faux popularity of the ghazal form. Those who listen to his version of ‘ghazals’ really have very little sense of appreciation of the art of listening to ghazals. Call me a snob if you will but it makes me hopping mad…
I agree about Mehdi Hassan definitely but never saw him live. Jagjit Singh I am a tad ambivalent about. I think it was a mistake to involve the Missus in his venture. But yes, he definitely ‘gets it’ and I have much of his music in my collection. I think however in delivering music for the TV series Ghalib, some amount was lost to the need to make it ‘popular’.
April 21, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Though i hvn’t seen this movie but after reading this i hv decided to watch this movie.
April 22, 2008 at 12:18 am
When it comes to ghazal singing I find female singers like Roshan-ara Begum, Farida Khanum and Iqbal Bano worth listening to then many male singers. But then the late Amanat Ali of Patyala Gharana is another name who gave a new meaning to Ghazal Singing.
But thats another genre. I prefer reading a Kalam rather then listening to it. have you guys [Prerna & Shefaly] heard about Nasri Nazm? Like the one posted on my blog sometime ago:
http://ammaryasir.wordpress.com/2008/02/13/atif-saeeds-%d8%b9%d8%ac%d8%a8-%d9%be%d8%a7%da%af%d9%84-%d8%b3%db%8c-%d9%84%da%91%da%a9%db%8c-%db%81%db%92/
April 22, 2008 at 10:28 am
Ammar, I have heard and I love Farida Khanum and her ‘Aaj jaane ki zid na kaaro’.Iqbal Bano is one of my favourites but nothing to beat Ghulam Ali.He is not only a great singer but seems to be a very humble and gentle person,which I think increases his fan following.I hadn’t heard of ‘Nasri Nazm’ till I read your post.
April 22, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Ammar: India’s most celebrated ghazal singer was of course Begum Akhtar. But the others I have not heard. I must say quietly - since I am sure they do not read this blog - that I have seen several Abida Parveen CDs in the homes of some friends, who would not know a ghazal if it came and slapped them in their face. Somehow fashion statements of this kind really get my goat too… I will look for the artists you mention, here in the UK.
On Nasri Nazm, I read the post and left you a comment there. I know of the form but have not heard too many. Nasri Nazm to me differs from a ghazal like Maithili Sharan Gupt (a Hindi poet) differs from Suryakant Tripathi Nirala (another Hindi poet). I am sure now our dear Prerna will be able to find us some references to illustrate what I mean
PS: Who’da thunk a film review could spawn such interesting conversation about ghazals? Thanks Ammar and Prerna.
April 22, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Prerna: Ghulam Ali is known - was known then - to walk out of concerts if he found the audience disrespectful or plain ignorant. I was lucky when I saw him in Calcutta, it was a small crowd, people were respectful and knew the ‘tehjeeb’ of expressing appreciation, and he stayed well beyond his 1 hour or so.
As a digression, I must say another thing that constantly intrigues me is the specific methods of expressing appreciation during live music performances. Attending their first live jazz concert almost always trips people up. Similarly - if not at the same level - people who come to a rock concert but do not really know the musician’s work can be found out soon. They clap at all the ‘wrong’ moments. Did I make sense there?
I hope I did.
April 22, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Shefaly,
‘tehjeeb’ is a very important part of our culture.If you attend a ‘Mushaira’and don’t say Wah Wah and Mukarar it is ‘beadabi’.
About being //disrespectful or plain ignorant// in a Jagjit Singh concert I attended, he stopped singing because some people brought food in the auditorium.He asked them to finish their food and drink and then enter the auditorium.I agree with him.The other side of the story is that a friend of mine had arranged a Pankaj Udhas concert for her parent’s 50 anniversary.He was singing and very few people were actually listening to him.Then all of a sudden a few youngsters got up and started dancing.He stopped singing and went on playing the Harmonium for sometime.Whether or not I like Pankaj Udhas he didn’t deserve it.The other view could be that if they want to be appreciated they shouldn’t perform at parties like this for the sake of money.
April 23, 2008 at 3:09 am
From Khuda Ke Liye to ghazals? I haven’t seen the movie yet. Will do it when the DVD releases.
The reason I am commenting is this column by Tavleen Singh in the Indian Express. The secular-in-quotes folk will probably not like it, but as per my definition of secularism, one should be able to bash Modi as well as moderate muslims with equal ferocity when they are at fault.
Singh has a point, a good one.
April 23, 2008 at 8:35 am
@aristotlethegeek,
the journey from Khuda Ke Liye to ghazals started with Urdu!
I am with you that secularism means that we should be able to bash the wrong doers whichever religion they are from.The condition is we should be objective in our criticism.
April 23, 2008 at 6:42 pm
I’m looking forward to this movie - hopefully it’ll be released in US soon (theater or DVD).
April 24, 2008 at 4:42 pm
I saw the movie aftr my frnd told me abt it & i found the movie interestng. Theyve depictd reality.. n i didnt miss a min of it. It shows what most Pakis face .. particularly after 9/11. Ive heard the same from my sis n cousin there, n now when i saw this movie, it connected instantly. The movie is good, most of it is excellent, very true & correct accrdg to todays situatn n also regdg Islam.
I had this beleif that Music is haraam, only since the last 1/2 yrs i started to listen to a song or 2. I think we shud be liberal in this matter, we must read Quran n memorize it and there shud ne no harm in listening to some music once in a while, ya disco n all is smthing to be avoided. They showd what the youngsters r doing today, its an eye - opener for us dat we shudnt be doing such things. Stay moderate thats wht i can say. No point in being staunch n rigid abt Islam. we shud have Iman - Tauheed, pray 5 times a day, offer Zakat, Roza, n perform Hajj n try to learn n discuss n spread awareness abt the correct. thats not simple but we shud try our best to do it, once we get used to it, it feels very simple.
Coming back to the movie.. Maryam isnt at fault, she was never guided n she never lived as a Muslim, she had no interest n Islam as well. Twas good dat Sarmad realised that he was a good Muslim even before he kept a beard, bt he shudnt have forced Mary to marry him, its not allowed. Apart from that he was accurate.
Mansoor was a stupid fool, who married a wrong person. N marys dad was the biggest culprit cos he ruined his own life.
April 24, 2008 at 10:27 pm
Prerna: I agree. That is part of the whole experience. As a child, I attended Tansen Samaroh as well as a few of the other all-night classical music concerts held in Gwalior. They are imprinted in my mind as a fine example of what sublime music means. I feel very content just thinking of them..
May 16, 2008 at 3:44 am
Hi,
Guys I guess I see some serios urdu fans here. I was just wondering if anyone of you has the Lyrics or the source of the ghazal that is being sung when Mary the girl refuses to open the door on her father. It goes something like this “Mauj aaye baharey ulfat me..”. Its an excellent rendition and would want to listen to it again without the dialogues though.
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