ख़ुदा के लिए

This is one of the best..or in fact the best movies to come out of Pakistan in a long long time. Considering the perceived conservative situation prevailing in that country ,this is indeed a brave and laudable effort. The story surrounds the two brothers from Lahore and how their lives are affected by the after math of 9/11 crises. It also shows the travails of the England educated Pakistani girl Mary..who becomes an innocent victim of the skewed up logic or her hypo critic father. The two brothers are essentially music lovers, while one of them goes to US for furthering his musical education, the other one gets caught up in the teachings of fundamentalists Muslims and gives up his music. The girl Mary on the other hand is tricked into marrying in Pakistan when her father discovers that she has fallen in love with an English man. During the same time 9/11 happens and these educated persons fall prey to the adverse conditions surrounding them. The story of the film is remarkable as it clearly shows the aftermath of 9/11 crises on young educated Muslims. The movie picks up slowly with amateurish acting being done by some of the actors. But the story and smart screen play more than make up for it. In fact by second half one is riveted to his seat as the story takes it affect on you.There are quite a few great moments in the film but the one in which Mary tries to runaway from her captors in Afghanistan is especially heart rendering. Among the actors the lead actor Shaan and the actress playing Mary do a good job, but the final master stroke comes from the great Naseerudin Shah ,towards the end of the movie. Special mention must be made of the excellent back ground music of the film. It helps to convey the mood the film and stays with you even after the movie is finished. This is essentially a great film as it has its heart in the right place. It handles the issue of Islamic fundamentalism and the Muslim society with a humane touch without ever once going over the top. It takes a very objective view of the prevailing Pakistani society and should act as an eye opener for the western world. Finally being an Indian, anything concerning Pakistan is always of some interest to us,may be good or bad. At least for me this was a great eye opener. I came to realize that many of us Indians have totally false image of the society in Pakistan. This film show what a great country Pakistan is and the people in both country share the same values of peace and love at heart. The film also shows the importance of creative freedom for a society and hats off to Shoiab Mansoor,the director of the film for coming up with such a masterpiece!!!.

"In the name of God" or "Khuda kay liye" portrays the dilemma that every Muslim living abroad and at home faces in present time. It is also an internal war between the moderates and fanatics apart from the outside battle they are fighting within their own world. Frustrated and victimised by generalisations and self righteousness from the fanatic religious groups and authorities both of which lack a deep understanding of how cultural values and religion both entwine to make up Muslims. While not without faith the moderates seem to be paying highest price for this war on terror. How does a moderate Muslim survive this war? What happens when there is clash of fundamentalism.

PROS: Well knit story, although the editing is a bit choppy at times, good cinematography, good script, very true to reality and good acting by Rasheed Naz, Naeem Tahir, Shaan, newcomer Fawad Khan and of course the one and only Naseer ud din Shah. The film leaves you with questions which is more than any Pakistani film has ever done.

CONS: While this film has made big leaps into bringing Pakistani Cinema on the map of the International Cinema. I just think that a little bit of attention to detail would have made it an exceptional film by international standards e.g. Shan could have lost more weight while in the cell, he still looks like he is working out for a marathon. Iman's British accent is a bit funny. Still a brilliant film and better than most bollywood films because it sticks close to reality and deals with very relevant and sensitive issues.

Note: I just wish that they would have released it in other countries especially in the gulf simultaneously as it would have attracted a larger more empathetic audience than Pakistan. Let's hope it does well in the international film festivals.

An excellent production by an extremely talented writer & director. I am a Pakistani living in the UAE, living in harmony with lots of Indian friends here. I watched this movie on its very first day of release here and found it much well presented than expected.

Some ideas are debatable but it is a positive sign that people are now bringing up the issues which were thought to be entirely forbidden in Islam although not proved as forbidden. It shows the real issues in our Pakistani homes, like the issue of Hijab for an aged mother and the people living with double standards in life!

The same thing happened to my fiancé & cousin when he turned towards such fundamentalists and rejected all of our family as he thought we were not practising Muslims. Then he got married with a lady Mujahida who is a preacher as well and they are happily settled!! Well, this is the reality and we have to face all this. This film was also made by the director for his famous pop singer friend Juned Jamshed ( Vital Signs Group), who turned away from music and now has become a staunch supporter of preaching and Islamic Tableeghi Jamaat.

I hope this film will start a revolution of CRITICAL THINKING among Muslim masses around the world, which has been non-existent for the last few centuries.This means not only to believe what you listen but ask questions to yourself too and listen to your conscience, which is always encouraged in Islam.

It may also send the message across the border for our Muslim Indians to be positive about their religious identity , as in both the countries, Muslims are suffering from the same crisis. May God show us all the right path. Amen

When i was entering the cinema hall in Lahore on the first day of its release,i thought i was the only female who was going to watch the film as our families have stopped visiting the cinema cause of the type of films that are being made nowadays....But i was shocked n surprised to see lot of girls coming into the cinema with their family members to watch this master piece by Pakistan's finest director or should i say the only brilliant director we have,the great, Shoaib Mansoor....

"Khuda Kay liye" is a masterpiece...Every Pakistani should be proud of the fact that this film is made in our country...when everyone thought that PAkistani Cinema is dead...Khuda Kay liye came at the right time and have played a major part in revival of our cinema....

What shud i say about the movie...everyone Pakistani should visit the cinema at least once to watch this movie n also to contribute a bit in the revival of our industry....

Hats of to Shaan,Fawad Khan n Imaan Ali for their great performances...i am not a big fan of shaan but was actually surprised to see such a brilliant performance by him...if given a chance he can beat any actor from across the border or anywhere in the world...Fawad was also quite gud in his role...lets say he fitted well...Iman Ali was also quite surprising...coming from a modeling background i never expected her to be so believable in the role she waz doing...gr8 work by every actor...

One person who needs a special mention here is Naseeruddin shah....i dun have to say anything about him...he is truly a legend....he proved that when it comes to a great cinema it cannot be completed without him being their cuz he himself is an integral part of it...his every dialog,every move will make u glued to ur seats...u just have to see the movie to know what i am talking about...

And lastly i would actually like to thank Shoaib Mansoor for giving us such a beautiful and did i mention thought provoking film...its a film that we can be proud of...if such films are being continuously made we will soon say bye bye to all those crappy stuff from across the border....

To actually see a movie from Pakistan in which actors are talking and not yelling was a pleasant surprise but as the movie progressed it completely blew my mind off for being so real. This movie take its viewer right in to the world of Pakistanis who are either living in Pakistan or residing abroad especially in western world. It realistically portrays life in Pakistan where people are caught between the hardliner religious scholars and carrying the normal activities and pleasures in life. It also shows the dilemma of overseas Pakistanis when they see their children being brought up in a western society. Finally, it painfully shows what has happened to many Pakistanis that have been targeted by western people and law after 9/11. The greatest service that this movie has done is to show the world that how difficult it is right now to be Pakistani and I can't say much more than that.

On the side of acting all the actors did justice to their characters. Shaan (Mansoor) was at his best and I must admit that I never thought that Shaan could deliver such a powerful performance after seeing his mindless Punjabi movies. His acting, while being tortured by law was realistic to a frightening extent. After watching the movie I felt that huge amount of research must have gone on the background as every situation looked near to reality. For example, the way Government Political Agent approached tribal council was very realistic.

Amidst all the painful realities the film does give a ray of hope in the end when Iman Ali (Maryam/Marry) opens a girl's school in tribal area. I guess it was necessary for the artist (Shoaib Mansoor-director) to give hope in the end. Although, sadly speaking that ray of hope is still no way near in sight to Pakistani society as during the last few years, many of the girls schools in northern area of Pakistan have either been bombed or closed down as a result of threats and I am afraid that Maryam school might have been one of them.