Okay, here we go. It seems that I’m getting a lot of hate for my comment on how crappy Bol is. For those who haven’t seen or don’t plan on watching this movie; here’s the plot in a nutshell: It’s a story about a girl who wishes to tell the world her story before she is hanged for the murder of her father. The movie doesn’t seem to know what issue it wants to highlight and provide a solution for. Although it’s a love letter to family planning, it keeps on flip flopping between religious extremism, domestic violence, bureaucracy; ill treatment of daughters, homosexual abuse, Sunni/Shia conflict, and prostitution among many, many other issues. Whoa there; one problem at a time, Shoaib Mansoor.
The movie takes place in an ultra-orthodox Muslim family of Hakim Sahab, who keeps impregnating his wife in hopes of having a son. In fourteen tries his wife gives birth to seven daughters, one hermaphroditic son (whom he despises), and has seven miscarriages. We are also introduced to the neighbors of Hakim Sahib, Master Sahib who dogmatically follows the “bachey do hi achey” model of family planning. With a moderate salary Master Sahab is able to send both his daughter and son to medical school. After a few more miscarriages, the ‘Joan of Ark’ of our story: Zainab; decides to gets her mother sterilized. This is done so Hakim Sahib can’t impregnate her anymore.
If I go on any further I’ll make the same mistake the movie makes and that is to swim in a puddle of irrelevant details and in turn derail my train of thoughts. Now when the hermaphrodite son gets raped, Hakim Sahib kills him. Consequentially he is forced to bribe the police with masjid donation and in his desperation to get the money back for the masjid meets with a pimp. The pimp offers him the money only if he is able to impregnate the pimp’s daughter with a girl. The story reaches a climax when the pimp’s daughter conceives a baby girl whom Hakim Sahib attempts to murder. In trying to save the baby girl’s life, Zainab strikes her father on the head leading to his death.
Here is my problem with the movie. The acting in the movie was very shallow and one dimensional. The characters were very stereotypical, and extremely predictable. Hakim Sahib in particular comes off as very comical and silly even when he is trying to be serious. The music is dreadful and unnecessary. This movie is just an extended episode of a Pakistani drama in that it is boring and two and a half hours long (TOO DAMN LONG). Most importantly, it is unabashedly biased and essentially doesn’t provide any real solutions. Bol is the second movie of Shoaib Mansoor that tries to paint all religious Muslims with the same brush and brand them as heartless villains. He puts forward Music and Dancing as the solutions to Pakistan’s social conundrum and a blatant rejection of all Islamic values.
Extremist Mullahs seem to be a common theme in his movies; in ‘Khuda key Liye’ we saw the music-loving boy fall victim to some extremist mullah who spouts hate for the west and music. Mr. Mansoor even tries to justify that music is halal by saying that the Prophet Daud used to sing since he was blessed with a beautiful voice. Mansoor’s blatant disregard of Quran and Hadith is very visible in both the movies. Ironically, he has embraced the ‘Pick and Choose’ method that the very same extremists he despises and maligns have made their methodology.
I came across a very interesting point as I was researching the movie and it’s director that may help explain his bias and motivation. It turns out that Mr. Mansoor was mentor to a very “beardly” famous Pakistani: Junaid Jamshaid. Jamshaid was once was a very famous pop star, who had a change of heart and left the music industry abruptly deeming it unappealing and un-Islamic. Mr. Mansoor was personally wounded by this transformation and he allegedly said “I gave him sixteen years of my life as a true friend and played a role in his professional life to the best of my abilities. How could he throw away our sixteen years just like that without even consulting me?” This comment in the backdrop of his first movie ‘Khuda Ke Liye’; which is homage to music; helped me understand his whole anti mullah crusade. Mansoor somehow feels that it’s his obligation now to prevent any more Junaid Jamshaid type transformations.
My biggest fear after seeing this movie was that it might discourage many young Pakistanis from learning about Islam with an open mind. I spent a significant chunk of my life in Pakistan and I attended a Madrassa when I was there. Without being arrogant, I can truthfully say that I know exactly what goes on there, and I can tell you for a fact that a lot of what Mr. Mansoor portrays in his movies is grossly exaggerated. In fact, anyone who dares to learn about Islam in Pakistan is stigmatized and ridiculed at times as I can personally attest to. I was ostracized by the other children and often tauntingly called a Mullah, Maulana, and whatever other derogatory term that is attached to children who attend madrasas.
Alternatively, if you really want to watch a thought provoking, emotionally moving Pakistani movie go check out Ramchand Pakistani. It is a beautiful story of how a poor Pakistani Hindu boy and his father are accidently imprisoned in an Indian jail, and accused of being Pakistani spies. The movie is grossly overlooked, and underappreciated which is a shame. It makes great use of the silent yet sombre beauty of the Pakistani desert landscape, traditional music and the main cast complements the tone and pathos of the movie perfectly. On the other hand, Shoaib Mansoor is simply digging for compliments and popularity by grossly exaggerating the reality, wherein Ramchand Pakistani shows a real side of the Pakistani minority and their struggles. It just works, people!. Bol makes a mockery of the term ‘social commentary’ and earns the director the label of sycophant from yours truly: the Cineophant.
A very special thanks to Ammad Wajahat for editing.
