This film was quite a pleasant surprise. I would recommend it to every one as it certainly is good cinema. A class above the stereotypical Bollywood genre you would normally expect out of South Asia, this Pakistani film explores the origins of religious fundamentalism in Pakistan along with the horrors following Partition that still scar the memories of many in the region. I would probably rate this above 1947 Earth and certainly consider it to be the most influential movies I have seen on Partition. Excellent camera work, fluent and appropriate use of Punjabi script and great top notch acting by Kiron Kher along with many veteran Pakistani actors will leave you full of emotion after you see the film. The subtitles could be a bit better for the Non-Punjabi viewer, and i think a little more spotlight should have been put on how and why the religious fundamentalist gathered such momentum in a nation leaning more towards Moderate rule after Bhutto's regime. The fact that these groups had strong economic and social backing from the U.S at the time, as they were the ones fighting the war against communist Russia should have been brought out more plainly for the viewer not familiar with the politics and history of the region at the time. And it is these same groups that received such full fledged support from the U.S at the time and painted as 'Holy Warriors' by the Western Media that are now considered terrorist organizations in the post 9/11 era. This point that the U.S played a vital hand in strengthening Islamic fundamentalist organizations under Zia's rule was i think not driven home to the extent it could have been. But all in all a wonderful first effort by Sabiha Sumar, i would give it a 9 out of 10.
Review of Silent Waters
Silent Waters
(2003)
Khamosh Pani an excellent first venture into unexplored territory
12 September 2007