For God’s Sake…

A very personal friend and inspiration, the literate, intellect and award winning author, the late Manohar Sardesai once shared with me, what he had written in Konkani (our native language in Goa) ‘Molbailia Devak., Mondirant adun dar bond kone kalem? Bhotak vichar’ (Who took the God from the skies and prisoned him in a shrine? Ask the priest). This line has always taken a very special place in my heart and every now and again fuels my humanitarian fight and secularism efforts. Today, after all those years of hearing that line, came a film, that has gotten me so damn emotional all over again. After all those years, I felt my dearest Manohar uncle, speak to me again via Shoaib Mansoor. If there is one film that you need to watch in today’s day and age, not just for your own self, but to be aware of the world around you, then go, and for God’s sake, watch ‘Khudha Kay Liye’.

A lot happened to us all, after the 9/11 incident. No, don’t worry, this is not another film about 9/11. This film is about the world after 9/11. This film is also about the line that draws the difference between ‘religion’ and ‘faith’.

Reel Life - The film is about two brothers who are pop musicians in Lahore, one of whom gets radicalized under the influence of extremists, while the other goes to America and gets unlawfully detained after 9/11. It is the story of Mary (Maryam), a British girl of Pakistani origin, who is brought to Pakistan by her father and married off against her will, simply coz of his hypocrisy towards his ‘culture’ and what he thinks is his religion.. This film is about women being equal, it is about families who love their children and want nothing more than the safety of their sons. It’s a film that not just all Muslims will relate to, but also non-Muslims will be able to relate to. This is NOT a film about Islam or any other religions, and please I beg you not to go and view it from that perspective. This is a film about human beings – and that means, it is about you and me. Human beings who not only died at incidents like 9/11 but are still dying even today because of a minority of individuals.

Real Life - Let me sum up the entire film in just one dialogue that I came out with from this film ‘I do not hate America, just because of the way a few Americans treated me, similarly I humbly request you to not hate Islam because of what a few Muslims have done’. Now, let me emphasize why I think that every person from every age group and every background should watch this film – it is simply because in today’s day and age, we are being influenced by religions, societies and governments. We are emotional victims who are preyed upon and targeted. What the world needs is tolerance. At times of storms we need to hold each other’s hands rather than fight each other, and very honestly, we – God’s creations have forgotten to do this. We are fighting about the minor differences that we have, instead of embracing in the similarities that we share. Brothers and sisters wake up to become one. We might not be able to change the world, but in tolerance, in respect and in love, we will touch the lives of everyone we meet.

Cinematically – I cannot recall how long the film was. It was that deep. I’ve straight away put that up there in the top most powerful films I have ever seen. The production is first class. This is truly a film meant for the international stage. I cannot emphasize this enough – this film is a must watch. The soundtrack is amazing, really amazing too. I have never seen a Pakistani film in my life, but I know that the other films that come out of Pakistan are no where near, in quality or production as this one. This is truly Pakistan’s international film. Shoaib Mansoor –very honestly I want to say ‘thank you’ and I pray that the entire world watches this message.

Tagore Almeida, lives in Dubai. He is a full time technologist and a part time film maker, writer and the guardian of a humanitarian group. Read more about him at www.tagorealmeida.com.