And I am not a terrorist.
Catchy huh?
Well, few weeks back, before my exam, I read this one post in Marina Mahathir's blog. She talked about this one Hindustani movie, yes you read it correctly, Hindustani movie; titled "My Name is Khan". And so, I made a mental note to buy the DVD once my exam is over. I surreptitously went to buy the movie on Friday night and two hours later made my family sit in the living hall and put the movie on, without them even knowing what movie am I forcing them to watch.
And this is the official trailer for it.
I know just by mentioning the word "Hindustan", the images coming into people's mind will be heroes and heroins singing and dancing on beautiful hills, near the beach, changing their costumes every there and then, and suddenly tens of background dancers appear behind them, dancing together.
Although I am not a big fan of Hindustani movies like, I don't know why some people were shocked when I say I do watch Hindustani movies. Hahah... Yes, I do find it illogic that suddenly a group of dancers appear out of nowhere, or only after the hero had kicked the villains a** off only will the police arrive, I do still enjoy the music, dances and fantasies in the movies (though not all).
Anyway, I just want to tell everyone that
There is no sudden appearance of dancers dancing on the hilltop, nor heros fighting the villains with that exaggerated "dush dush" sound effect. The main character of "My Name is Khan" is Rizvan Khan, played by dearest Shah Rukh Khan.
Rizvan Khan is a Muslim man with Asperger Syndrome, an autism disorder. Although an austistic, Rizvan is a very intelligent man, gifted with values normal men lacks. He is innocent, and due to that, he's fearless. He cares not about what other people think of him, he worries not of being laughed at and he scares not about how people might hurt him. And because of that, this man can do wonders.
The Hindu-Muslim riot in India occured when he was small, and so his mother taught him that there are only two types of human; the good people and the bad people. Hindus can be good and can be bad, and so do Muslims, there are good Muslims and bad Muslims. And I dare say his mother did a terrific job. After the death of his mother, Rizvan's brother brought him to the States where he met Mandira, a beautiful Hindu lady whom he believes has a very good heart. And when he expressed his intention of marrying Mandira, his brother was so angry that he decided to cut all ties with him. Rizvan proceeded with the marriage anyway, living happily with Mandira.
Until Sept 11 happened.
And Muslims in the US were labelled terrorists.
They were oppressed, Mandira (now Mandira Khan) had to close her salon because people started to fear she might just blow their heads up while cutting their hair. And just by watching how Muslims were being unjustly treated over there, attacked for no reason, and even the Punjabs were being attacked because the community thought they're Muslims, made me think, "Who is the terrorist now?". Who is who now? The ones who blindly accepted the accusation that the WTC was attacked by the-so-called Muslim Terrorists, hit below the belt and went to punish all the Muslims around them, or the people who were oppressed and misunderstood and judged based on their appearance?
I wouldn't want to tell you the whole story.
But there are some scenes I'd like to share:
1) After the 9/11, Rizvan's sister-in-law, who has been wearing her hijab all the while, was being harrassed. Someone came to her and pulled her hijab off her head, shouting "Get out of my country!!" Frankly, I was very suprised with that act, and saddened over it too. And it actually really happened over there.
2) Rizvan was in a restaurant with another Muslim couple. And he told them he needs to pray. The man said he should not pray at that time; he should pray according to the place and people around him. They were on the same bus, stopping by a roadside restaurant and so the man do not want Rizvan to be perceived "weird" by praying there. Rizvan's reply was: "No, prayers depend on your faith". And the man was embarrassed.
Well actually, there are a lot more scenes I love in that movie, but I wouldn't want to spill them all here. So, if you have the opportunity to own the DVD, please do so and watch it. It's really an eye opener. Although it did not comment anything on the accusation that 9/11 was done by Muslims, it did not show any sign of agreeing with it either. The film was made such that thinking audience can still refute the accusation that 9/11 was done by the-so-called Muslim terrorists. (Click here for the fact behind the fall of WTC)
I actually took 4 days to write this post. =.="
Another good thing about this movie is it also potrays bad Muslims. Not that it's good to have bad Muslims but, there ARE bad Muslims around. And by potraying good and bad Muslims, at least people do not judge religion by the people. Just because a Muslim man is bad, does not mean Islam is bad. As Bro Shah Kirit (one of renowned Muslim speakers) once said, "Muslim does not equal to Islam".
I actually want to write more, but I don't think I'd want to make this post longer so I'll stop here. Do watch the movie, it's good.
And as for my family, they really enjoyed the movie although my siblings grumbled at first knowing it's a Hindustani movie. All of us stayed up till almost 2am to watch it, while other people were watching World Cup. Ahah....
-AkMaR-
http://nur-akmar.blogspot.com
Tuesday 6th July 2010
10.24 am
babe tengs. love u for sharing this :)
ReplyDeleteI watched the movie on the weekend having kept remembering your recommendation.
ReplyDeleteI did enjoy the movie. My eyes watered a couple of times even though I knew it was written to deliberately contain sentementalised parts. It sometimes pushed on the borders of credibility at times, but what movie doesn't? I think it's hard to make a work of fiction good especially when it is built upon real events - especially of the magnitude of 911. The 'human' element of it shone through and this is probably the heart of all good movies.
It's also rare to have child death featured in a movie.
You are right by implying it didn't have to discuss the accusations/details of 911 'cos the result is that Muslims lives (and Sikh/Hundu/dark skinnned Asians and probably African Americans) were affected by 911 irrespective of what exactly happened on that day.
As your writing about sex quite a bit, let me ask you how did you 'cope' with the sex bits (like when Rizwan' asks for sex from his wife) while watching it with your family? Were you or your borthers/sisters embarassed? - were your parents embarassed?
Thanks for suggesting this movie to watch.
Suggestion: Buy or download the 2009 US movie called "The Lovely Bones" DON'T read anything about it. Just watch it. Movies are ALWAYS best watched when you know absolutely nothing about what they are about.
Ah well... how did we cope with that scene?
ReplyDeleteFor that movie, I think we laughed a little, as somehow they managed to make the scene more funny than embarrassing.
But in other movies, where it weren't funny at all, we will all keep quiet and pretended it wasnt there. Sometimes if it was a kissing scene, we'll fast forward, or go take drinks and stretch ourselves, or any other thing to avoid the scene.
Sometimes, one of us will comment on it, asking whether this scene is necessary, or why all (Western) movies contain these scenes etc etc.
But most of the time, we let it pass.
On whether my parents were embarrassed or not, I can't tell cos they didn't tell me anything like that. :)