It was a film whose impact was made ten times stronger thanks the wonderful performances by the actors, (mainly Hummaima Malick, Manzar Sehbai, Amr Kashmiri, Shafqat Cheema, and some others) and the excellent direction, cinematography, heart rending soundtrack and theme, and the dramatic lighting of what is almost a kind of gothic drama, showing the central characters’ decadence into emotional frenzy, madness, and death. The actors, each and every one of them, have played up to their characters. No one is out of place. No one is out of character. Just like every movie, this one too has its ‘flaws’ if such a strong word can be used for them, but the overall film was so impactful, so extraordinarily powerful, that these blemishes can be easily forgiven.
I personally find certain issues (and always will) in a film casting models for acting. Celebrities like Atif Aslam, Mahira and Iman Ali may be glamorous and attractive for the general audience, but Shoaib Mansoor should have opted for more veteran actors. Perhaps his understanding was that glamour would attract the audience to come watch the movie, but we know that neither the director - nor his wonderful story - need any celebrity endorsement for their success (financial or other).
There is no lack of acting talent in Pakistan and it is certain that several other actors could have done better. Nevertheless, to be fair, the three amateur actors, Iman Ali, Atif Aslam and Mahira, were not too painful to watch as are many other models, who fancy themselves to be veterans after doing three ridiculous dramas on TV. I would go as far to say that Iman Ali was miles better than her previous character in Khuda Kay Liye (maybe the role mattered?) and that Mahira’s sensitivity to the character and the situation was apt and Atif Aslam’s visible effort in trying to genuinely pull it off did not allow them to be misfits in the characters they were given. Mansoor made sure not to give them characters they could not play.
So what if Atif’s dialogues were wooden and flat in most parts? When he came on screen, the audience (I was at Lahore’s horrible Sozo World theatre, which did not even bother to turn the lights off till about one scene later, and where ceiling fans were fixed on the walls), cheered their heads off. And when the camera slowly panned up to give a full view of Iman Ali’s seductive gaze, the whistles did not stop till about half the scene later. Now that’s audience appreciation! But honestly to put Atif Aslam in the first scene was stretching it a bit. I found the scene to be irrelevant, and with his emotionless voice the scene did not give much.
Strangely the beginning was not as strong as I thought it would be. Much of the blame goes to the cinema audience which is never punctual and takes its time to settle in, talking all the while. On the other hand, it was not as if the story did not take a direct plunge into the deep, because it did just that. It began from a very high point and carried onwards from there (most of it in retrospect). But perhaps the dialogues were not too inspiring. When the scenes were powerful, the lines were powerful, but in the former scenes the lines tended to be a bit dull. Sometimes so dull, you tuned out, and did not miss much. This was mostly in the scenes where the journalist whose voice was horribly dubbed, tried her best to do something for Zainab (Hummaima Mallick), who was given the death sentence. But Maliha Naipaul’s facial expressions were apt, and she was shown in the right measure: not overplayed, nor undermined.
But these weaknesses were compensated by the force of most of the movie and it was all forgivable.
Bol is essentially a crime film, a suspense thriller, a psychological horror. Its story is not simple, because it is layered with different sub plots, all linking into the main one, but this is done very cleverly and without any loose ends. In comparison to Khuda Kay Liye, Mansoor has done a wonderfully more refined job this time, with a much better story to watch, and much better actors to enjoy. It is mainly the actors who grab you by the head and keep you under water until you are about to burst with emotion. And then at that very moment comes Mansoor’s brilliant comedy relief, almost Shakespearean in it being needed by the audience for the horrible tale told by him.
The most important aspect is that it is a story based on issues which every individual – man, woman or child, can relate to. They can feel sympathy, horror, empathy, grief, tension, sorrow and repulsion easily, because every one of them must have experienced something out of the many themes that this film radiates. It is not a film about women, or women’s rights, or feminist issues. It is a story of one family, of one daughter who dared to speak out and fight, the story of one man who from conservative slowly broke down to crazy, the story of the conflict between the man who was superficially righteous, but even a pimp and a prostitute, were more ethical than him. The story is full of irony, conflict, and satire.
The tension is so built up in this film, that many times I found myself not even breathing and clutching hard at the chair grip. This is thanks to the wonderful direction that only Shoaib Mansoor is capable of, and also to the exceptional acting by the lead actors.
The movie is so spine chilling that when Shafqat Cheema came along with his genuinely funny manner of conversation, his laid back, happy go lucky attitude, and his overall way of simply accepting what he did and what he was (a pimp), one could not help but laugh, and then every muscle instantly began to relax.
In parts there was intense black comedy, laughable, but only bitterly so, because it was not meant to be that funny. When Naeem Kashmiri says nothing but “piece tight hai”, looking at the effeminate Saifi, it becomes funny because he says nothing else, but at the same time, it is not really hilarious.
There is nothing humorous about anyone being sexually harassed by a group of merciless, crude, stone hearted men.
(*SPOILER ALERT): I felt a kind of smug achievement when the males in the audience who had been cracking sick jokes about Saifi being effeminate, suddenly attained a kind of stupefied silence when he was brutally gang raped.
It is disappointing to know that the Pakistani audience does not let emotions of any kind sink into them and feel them before moving on. The very first reaction is immature. Cracking silly jokes, as if we are still in grade nine, just learning about the basic facts of life. Perhaps if more such films are made for the big screen, some behavior may be learnt from collective watching.
Mansoor, whose feature film style resembles heavily that of a TV drama, also cleverly divided the story into two major chunks, with the first part concerning the youngest brother Saifi and the horrendous psychological and physical torture he had to face from his father. Playing Saifi, Amr Kashmiri, was excellent.
It is difficult to even begin to describe the beautifully intense performance by Manzar Sehbai, who was a new discovery in terms of the screen. Playing the father of seven daughters and an eighth child he wished was a daughter instead of a gay son, Sehbai is a tyrant, a dictator, an old Hakeem settled since the start in Old Lahore, stubbornly running a useless clinic, and never allowing his children or his wife out of the house. He is a horrible man, who wishes horrible things upon his children, especially Zainab and Saifi. He is amazingly multi dimensional, layered and never stereotypes his character nor the character’s emotions into one slot. Sehbai is despicable when he is being the tyrant, darkly comic sometimes when his temper bursts out (as it does with a eunuch in the one of the beginning scenes), and a pathetic, poor old man, when bowed down by the pressures of his conservative, narrow minded ego. He is terrifying and terrible to his family, with never a kind word to say to them, and an overall surly man. But when he is deeply worried and hounded by social groups such as the clerics in the mosque, or the policeman (a highly convincing actor there too!), we almost feel sorry for him. But as soon as we feel that, he does something else to remove that emotion from within the audience. There is rarely any kind of empathy that can be reserved for such a mean person as is this Hakeem. Playing his wife, actress Zeb Sajjad was also quite true to life, a woman, who quietly endured the psychological abuse she and her daughters constantly faced but also a woman who had simple pleasures and loved each of her children deeply.
Zainab, (Hummaima Mallick), was a very inspiring character created by Mansoor. While she constantly argued with her father over his narrow interpretations of every day life, she never misbehaved, or shouted, only proved her points calmly and solidly, bravely facing any kind of repercussion coming her way, even if it wasn’t her own fault. She was a symbol of bravery and resolute determination against an unyielding authority. A sister and daughter who could sacrifice her own life, a person, who fought because she knew she must speak out. Her acting is commendable where she is led to death. Mansoor even shows that suffocating black mask covering her head, and her instant reaction of utter helplessness mixed with fear instead of a typically unrealistic and very usual portrayal of the central character walking bravely towards death, is commendable, and heart wrenching.
Meanwhile one the most interesting characters is that of Shafqat Cheema. A pimp, who is known as Chaudhry outside the precincts of the Shahi Mohalla (not so Shahi anymore), who eats like an animal – food all over his face, sleeps most of the day and loves a good joke, especially if its about subtly teasing a religious hakeem who he openly treats with a kind of respectful contempt, Shafqat Cheema is one man who is funny, kind, ethical, and even loveable.
Much like the eunuch who saves Saifi from the field earlier in the film who is kind, and soft hearted, Cheema too, a pimp is shown as that. Cheema being a great actor, with a bigger role than the eunuch is so perfectly fitted in character that it is awe inspiring. He is casual, confident, hospitable, crudely honest, and laughs at the nervous embarrassment of the Hakeem when he tells him loudly that the mosque is right next to his (a pimp’s) house. His anger is justified when the Hakeem betrays him, and he is so ethical that he does not even follow with his threat that he gives the Hakeem about selling his daughters Rupees 10 ‘apiece’ when he sees how badly treated they themselves are.
One major flaw – and this is a flaw – is the sudden arrival of Iman Ali’s brother. After her provocative dance in front him, she reveals to the Hakeem that he was her brother, but it is strange how she remembers him and he does not. But one loophole does not spoil the movie, because in any case it starts there and ends there.
Bol is something which no one from the Pakistani audience should miss. It is compelling, mind blowing, distressing, terrifying, and yet it is all realistic, and nothing, not even the makeup is out of sync. Indeed a million times better than Khuda Kay Liye. Not to mention the wonderful soundtrack especially ‘Din Pareshan Hai” by Sajjad Ali, and the romantic “Hona Tha Pyar” by Atif Aslam and Hadiqa Kiani.
No comments:
Post a Comment