Khuda Kay Liye

When someone says "revival of Pakistani cinema" about a film u expect something out of it and then one looks at the team and sees names of the best lot of people available in the country and the expectations rise. after seeing the trailers of Khuda Ke Liye one expects nothing short of the sky.

So does it deliver is the real question??? Shoaib Mansoor along with his whole team claims that he has created something big. Unfortunately Khuda Ke Liye isn't that big. It's even bigger!!!

Its the story of two brothers, played by Shaan and Fawad khan. Who are musicians and are born in a well-to-do family of Lahore. Then in very little time their lives change as the younger brother Sarmad(Fawad Khan) chooses a path for himself that none of his family members ever thought he would. Inspiration for such a path comes from a Maulana of the mosque.

Iman Ali plays Marry a girl born to a Pakistani British citizen. who wants to marry a British Christan boy against the will of her father. Naseer-Uddin-Shah plays a moderate Mowlana as a guest appearance.

The movie as is being usually thought of does not ONLY cater the issue of fundamentalism in Islam it also tackles other issues such as Pakistanis born and brought up in foreign lands and their issues and post 9/11 problems faced by Muslims.

Director Shoaib Mansoor gets it right as usual the writing is also perfect. he very easily balances the stories running together. The screenplay is perfect and the picture quality is top notch. the music is also perfect and never does it hamper the story flow. lyrics are also good.

Acting wise Shaan(Mansoor) proves that why he is considered as the best in the industry, he plays the modern Muslim boy brilliantly. Fawad Khan makes a superb debut he portrays the various shades of Sarmad's persona superbly. Rasheed Naz, Seemi Raheel and Hammed Sheikh are all superb and play their parts with great ease.

Khuda Ke Liye goes into a territory that no Pakistani movie-maker has ventured into ever. It not only deals with the issue of fundamentalism in Islam and how it is destroying our society but also other important issues faced by Muslims around the globe.

This movie has done a pretty good job to Revive Pakistani cinema, many good and educated families for the very first time visited cinemas and public response about KKL was superb. Cinemas houses were packed and even lot of people come back home again for the next show or waited in a long queue to watch this movie. Shoaib Mansoor is a brilliant director and film producer, his new venture was like a RAPID FIRE which burnt the whole country crowd with fumes of excitement and applause.We expect that he will continue this effort of giving good movies to Pakistan Film Industry which is almost dead.We are proud of legendary star - Mr Shoaib Mansoor.

A powerful script has been an enigma to Pakistani cinema for more than two decades now. Once this industry was ruled on the basis of powerful writing but this art was long forgotten until now. Shoaib Mansoor has worked really hard on the script, though there were a couple of loose ends to the script but the captivating second half keeps you at bay from anything lacking. Shoaib Mansoor; the director, has worked with quite a few D.O.Ps for this film and it clearly shows as the continuity is broken several times but all this can be ignored, thanks to some brilliant acting by Shaan and Naseerudin Shah. Fawad and Iman has done a commendable job given that it was their first film. There were some technical glitches as well but again nothing unforgivable. The film carries a very important message about not to stereotype things and also confronts the world to the fact that Islam is not about fanaticism. A religion cannot teach terrorism and Islam is no different it only teaches you love peace and submission. Islam means submission and how can submission be violent. The film confronts many ironies about the religion and is very well scripted. A definite watch for everyone, be it Muslim, Muslim Lover or hater!

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.

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