Manto

Movie Review (Hindi)

One thing is for sure – nothing has changed in the way governments run and the way dissent is looked at or the way truth is perceived.

The movie certainly worked its magic holding me in a trance for the entire duration. For me Saadat and Nawazuddin have merged. No one else could have brought him to life with such ease as him. All thanks to Nandita Das for directing so capably, a topic that was so vast and so complex - both the character Saadat Hasab Manto and the concept of Mantoiyat.

The dexterity became evident as the story weaved in Manto’s stories and his life. All my favourite stories were captured so sensitively and kudos again for getting the best in the industry to enact two-minute roles!! This does send the message that mantoiyat is here to stay.

The punch line came with Faiz Ahmed Faiz’ Bol, reawakening your conscience, giving you the courage to speak up in times when it is most required.

Bol

Bol, directed by Shoaib Mansoor is a film worth watching. The opening of the film itself hooks the audience when a beautiful young girl gets ready for the gallows. But before she has the noose tightening around her neck, she has a story to tell which results in--Bol. And she has a question for society to answer--if it can-- Why is bringing a new life on earth not a crime if you cannot take care of that life?
I think the film has hit hard on the narrow and closed thinking of society which is patriarchal. In your pursuit of a male child, you can afford to produce 6 or 7 female children, however, incompetent you are in bringing them up. And that is not all. Different rules govern the women's lives and men's, and this is of course decided by the men. Why? Simply because they have muscle power. I cannot understand how a person with a reasonable amount of intelligence can excuse his weaknesses simply by saying that God will provide for all. It seems it is God's will that one should have as many children possible, how you look after them does not matter!!!
This is one part of the story of god's will while the other side is the inhuman killing of the female child. The repercussions to such heinous acts are showing already with the growing number of begging children on the streets (in the first case) and the skewed sex ratio (in the second).