Jinnah

This film has been in the news since the cast was finalized. some people objected to a hindu (Shashi Kapoor) playing an angel, some objected that the role of Jinnah was given to an actor who played Dracula, and still others objected to the director, since he is persona non grata in Pakistan, because more than 2 decades ago he made the film that defied martial law regimes and made a monkey out of a certain general (now deceased). there were Pakistani directors, p***ed off that a banished director was preferred to their lot. yeah right, guys(i'm sorry u lost the chance to cast Babar Ali as Jinnah and Reema as Ruttie, and have them run around trees, singing in the rain), just give it up. artistic stuff of this calibre is WAAAAY out of your grasp. leave it to the experts.

Despite these and other difficulties the film got made, and despite numerous delays, the film was released. even though u can feel that some parts have been re-edited, it still leaves u with an intellegent and moving piece of cinema. kudos to the whole team and cast, especially Christopher Lee who positively SHINES in the role of Jinnah. Mr.Lee, i apologize on behalf of my countrymen. forgive them, for they r morons.

By no means a perfect film, this is FAR superior to the fodder that keeps coming out of Lollywood. before i go, just one last thing to say:

HURRAH !!!

rating: 8/10

well, when the movie was in process, even the general public in Pakistan was having certain reservations about it. however, it looks a fine product once it comes out. i think apart from certain aspects which can be presented more efficiently, the film is a good presentation of the life of Jinnah.

the movie has portrayed the life of a politician who never went to jail during a whole revolution. it shows that with statesmanship and with logic of your opinion, you need not to be violent to prove your point and thats what exactly done by Mr Jinnah. he never called for civil dis obedience or violent aggression against the rulers, he never called for bloodshed or violence and still managed to create a country on the map of the world. a good learning for all the current dispute holders in the world.

lee was superb, his gestures, his moves and his style shows his research on Jinnah. he shows his skill and his grip on the characters. other actors were OK but the screen play can be more strong. over all a good film, some people may disagree with the creation of two nation theory but no body can object the personality of Jinnah as a law abiding and man of principal politician.

Jinnah was more than a mere politician. He was the most important phenomenon in the history of the Muslims of India. He almost single handedly changed the course of history and created one of the greatest Muslim countries of the world; Pakistan. And he did that without shedding a drop of blood throughout the movement of freedom. He did that through his sheer will power and political genius. ‘Jinnah the Movie' is tribute to this great personality of the previous century.

The film took a long time in making and was surrounded with all sorts of rumors and controversies, but the end product is definitely very impressive. Its narration is quite different from the usual biopics. Instead of telling a usual birth to death story ‘Jinnah the Movie' takes a different approach. It travels back and forth in time highlighting important events in Jinnah's life that helps the viewer understand Jinnah the person and Jinnah the leader. Although the deviation from the traditional technique of storytelling gives ‘Jinnah the Movie' an artistic touch but it becomes rather hard for a commoner to grasp the story line. In a country whose literacy rate isn't something to be proud of, the producers probably should have stuck to the usual methods but they took a brave risk by taking an alternative route. They preferred artistic values to the commercial success and they should be appreciated for that.

Editing and art direction are the highlights of ‘Jinnah'. Camera work is brilliant and some of the shots reflect the director's command in his field. Production quality is way above any sub continent film and almost equals the standard of any Hollywood production. The producers deserve a pat on the back for creating such high quality production with a shoe string budget. Christopher Lee gives probably the best performance of his life and Shashi Kapoor deserves special applaud for working in a film that negates many of the India's political beliefs. Maria Aitken as Edwina and Shireen Shah as Fatima Jinnah play their roles perfectly. But Richard Lintern as young Jinnah was most impressive of the whole lot. His performance is really top class and his portrayal of Jinnah was as close to life as possible. A host of actors from Pakistan television have also performed in minor roles although the pick of them is Talat Hussain who shines in his cameo appearance.

All in all ‘Jinnah the Movie' is a tribute to the great leader who, though called snobbish and arrogant, was respected by all his contemporaries for his integrity and honesty. The film answers many questions related to Jinnah, Pakistan and its creation and one must admit that it does that without damaging the artistic quality of the film. Irrespective of its box office performance and the number of awards it garners ‘Jinnah the Movie' is the most important chapter in the history of Pakistani cinema.

I tried to do as much research on the man, Mr. Ali jinnah, before i wrote this review. and even though i was not very well versed with the history of Pakistan, (in fact i wasn't even sure where Pakistan was exactly before seeing this movie), what i found was a series of reports by great biographers and historians, who have instead of being factual have decided to be emotional to the point of being ridiculously biased. i still, do not, know the reason why jinnah was hated by so many, because frankly no one seems to be able to prove a valid point, its all just bickering and bitterness.

However, i have gained respect for the man, in his unflinchingness, and "man of steel" attitude, a man who would bow to no one, and would never stoop below his standards and principles, if that made him cold and calculated, fine, at least he had fiber. Mountbatten is quoted as saying about Jinnah; "...That son of a Bit--, could turn you to stone with one look..." sounds like he was scared?

but its much easier to praise a movie like "gandhi" whose hero is such a simple case study, perfect in his nature and morals..etc etc... thats not a very hard case to sell, no wonder people liked it, it appealed to their sensibilities. Jinnah, may have been a man of steel, cold, unflinching, calculated, but how much do we really know of the man? we have on one hand reports by British journalists like Mr. Payne, whose "eyewitness" was just a bunch of idle thoughts and gut feelings with no real substance, but tainted by the inherent fear of the man (Jinnah), and on the other hand by embittered Indian writers who saw this man break up their country for an ideology they could never even hope to understand.

Jinnah was much deeper, i believe, a man who refused treatment for chronic tuberculosis, cause he believed that the Moslem's would never get their homeland, if he was viewed as weak, therefore he kept on going, steadfast, strong, like a locomotive, and in the end he died for it. No one knows the real Jinnah, but many have formed opinions based on 'stories' with no real truth behind them.

i read a excerpt from an article written by an Indian author, who wrote that in a rally held in 1930's, Jinnah was giving a speech in English and almost no one in the predominantly Hindi speaking crowd understood what he was saying, but when a British journalist queried a bystander on this he replied; "Its Mohammed Ali Jinnah, we trust him, whatever he says is right"

i don't think a man described in an unkind and biased history, as something close to Hitler, would command such respect and admiration from his people. He was, passionate, unflinching, upright, in short... a Great Man.

Matthew Davison New Jersey.

Jinnah the movie has some artistic beauty in it, even the blowing of sand in desert at the end of the movie leaves a deep impact over the viewer.

Actors have acted superbly but Talat Hussain has been wasted. He could have unleased his talent in the small role he had, like Om puri did in Gandhi.

Its no match for Gandhi,the story telling is different the personalities are different and the camera work is different. There are no negative characters in the film. Very neutral film, without making Jinnah an angel and Hindu's or British the scapegoat.

I only feel sorry for my country men , majority of whom will not be able to understand the story telling technique.