खुदा के लिए (In the name of the God)
Just saw this Pakistani movie yesterday. I must commend the effort of the writer and director Shoaib Mansoor to make such a movie at this day and age. Technically, it starts out very choppy hopping between Chicago, London and Lahore but from midway onwards, the flow gets better and the movie becomes gripping. Lots of the scene sequences, choice of words in dialogues and dialogue delivery sounds amateurish but when you have a big crew and a massive project like this, its hard to get all the players at the same level of professionalism. Overall the actors Shaan, Fawad Khan and Iman Ali carry the movie forward smoothly. Shaan's acting is cool and smooth but his father is very awkward and lifeless. Fawad Khan and Rasheed Naz' role is well done. Iman Ali is beautiful especially in her afghani dress. Naseeruddin Khan has a very small role but one in which his talent and experience shows. The highlight of the movie though, at least for me, was the court scene where Naseeruddin Shah's character talks about various conteporary issues as they relate to Islam and his interpretation. The music is very good and limited to its place in telling the story rather than being a nuisance as in many bollywood movies.
The movie, I have heard, has broken box office records of all times in Pakistan and aptly so. It has also started a debate among the moderates and the fanatically orthodox on the topic that now affects the whole world, religious fanaticism.
