Living on the Edge

This director has a tough task. Though Shoaib Mansoor has come to terms with being called anti-Islamic and he is used to the occasional fatwa, this film director is creating history in a positive way. His film Khuda Kay Liye is the first big Pakistani movie to release in India after over a decade. “Actually I was expecting a more extreme reaction and decided to go on a family vacation when the film was ready for release in Pakistan,” he says. Khuda Kay Liye hits Indian theatres on April 4.

It took two months to cut through the red tape before Mansoor’s film got the go-ahead to release in India. After being associated with the Pakistan television industry for over 25 years and directing popular soaps like Fifty Fifty, Ankahi and Sunehrey Din, Mansoor exited from television in 1999 to concentrate on films. He waited for the right idea to strike.

In 2005, a series of unplanned events inspired him to script Khuda Kay Liye. Pakistani pop singer Junaid Jamshed’s denunciation of his band Vital Signs acted as the trigger, but Mansoor insists that the purpose of making the film was to project the tragedy of a liberal Muslim. “It depicts the anger I had been carrying with me about how wrongly our religion has been interpreted by clerics,” he explains.

Set in the post-9/11 era, the film chronicles the journey of two brothers who are pop musicians in Lahore. While one gets radicalised under the influence of extremists, the other travels to the US and gets detained after the World Trade Center attack. Running parallel is the narrative of Mary (Marryam), a British girl of Pakistani origin who is brought to Pakistan by her father and married off against her will.

The unconventional script, however, led to casting problems and several actors expressed reluctance to feature in the film. “Junaid Jamshad and Ali Zafar, who were doing the lead roles, left the film. It was difficult to find actors in the US too,” recalls Mansoor.

Indian actor Naseeruddin Shah, meanwhile, was more receptive to playing the cameo of Maulana Wali, a Muslim cleric. “He asked me for the script and three days later sent me an SMS saying he loved it. He insisted on doing it for free,” says Mansoor.

Shot in 45 days in 2005-06, the film won critical acclaim after it was screened at the International Film Festival of India in 2007. Mansoor is hoping that the commercial release here is equally well received. The movie won the Silver Pyramid award at the 2007 Cairo International Film Festival. “More Lollywood films will make it to India though the gaps may be long because all our films are not worthy of competition with Indian ones,” he says.

The future? The director has yet to zero in on a story. “There are so many exciting topics that I want to make films on,” he says enthusiastically. We’re waiting.