Movie Review: Khuda Ke Liye

I wanted to write this review carefully. That's because as far as I am concerned this is a great film. There is so much I want to write and I am afraid it will all get lost. So I am going to write this in points.

1. The narrative style, the way the music is put into this film and the cinematography reminds me a lot of Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu's "Babel". Stories switch just like they did in 'Babel'. The pace of the movie is very much like that too. I think the most striking resemblance is that one of the tales of 'Babel' involved Islamic people in backdrops similar to those seen in this movie. I loved 'Babel'. I love this.

2. The music is lovely. I sing "Allah! Allah!" at home all the time. Hey! I know those are the only two words in that song but I like it. The visuals associated with this background song in the movie flash in my mind every time I sing it. Even the two songs the brothers sing at the very beginning of the movie are melodious.

3. Both lead actors have performed. Especially the one who comes under the influence of the 'Maulana'. At the start they made it look like he'd be the hero of the film. Then all of a sudden he's doing all the wrong things! He hardly speaks after he is grown a beard but is lively before that. It maybe the script that gives me a feeling he is acting or it may just be him. Above all is the amazing acting by the 'Maulana'. If this character was not rightly cast and didn't act well the movie would not have been half the movie it is.

4. I like the way the story moves. It's a story of ordinary in today's times. I like that. Right at the start I got a feeling that this is going the traditional Bollywood way. In fact, on hearing good things about this movie I assumed it'd be along the lines of our movies. High on music, high on melodrama, high on exposure and all that has come as expected and accepted today. But this is truly a great movie! The movie starts with two big singers in Pakistan and this lead me to believe it'd be like any of the regular Bollywood stuff. Trust me, I was so surprised and so happy for that. I don't like movies that run too long unless they can really justify the length. 'Khuda Ke Liye' justifies it. Not once was I bored. But the real yardstick for this movie is not the fact that it help my interest, that's not tough as I know the backdrop enough. But it is my wife who is not aware of how terrorists are bred. She was hooked too. This is the winning point. To take a political story and make a movie which can be enjoyed even by people who are not totally into politics. Some movies don't even attempt this, many do and fail. But not this one.

5. Naseer Ud Din Shah's five minutes performance can't be under emphasised. In a movie that is 165 minutes long five minutes can be nothing. But this is something. This is also a good time to mention the characterization in this film. It has a good number of characters. All get introduced in the first half hour or so. Then they keep coming back. It works very well in this movie as we some English, Americans, lots of Pakistanis and a Sikh. All of them very much in the script.

6. Both leading ladies are very pretty. Generally, I would not have mentioned this but I thought I'd do it this time. I liked them both!

RATING: 5/5