Khuda Kay Liye (Shoaib Mansoor,2007)

Khuda Kay Liye, released in 2007 and directed by Shoaib Mansoor is the story of two brothers in Pakistan and how life changes for them after 9/11.

Movie stars Shaan, Fawad Khan, Iman Ali and others. Special appearance by Naseeruddin Shah

I personally liked the movie and I think a movie of this genre was long due from the Pakistan Film Industry. This actually is Shoaib Mansoor's first Film as director. He has in the past made videos for bands such Vital Signs, Junoon and more recently for Strings.

The music and the background score of the movie is absolutely amazing and so is the cinemotography.

Shaan and Fawad who play the brothers named "Mansoor" and "Sarmad" respectively come from a well to do family in Lahore. Both are in a band together and then Mansoor leaves to study Music in the US, while Sarmad stays back and finds himself questioning his singing and whether he is permitted to sing in Islam. Then 9/11 happens and how life for both brothers changes is what the movie is all about.

The director has tried to potray both brothers in two diffrent limelights, one is shown as a musician and the other is to a musician but later on becomes a sort of religious extremism. Mansoor who goes to the US to study music is shown as a Muslim who doesn't drink, has a white girl friend who doesn't do anything with her as its against Islam, where as his brother Sarmad gets involved with a group religious extremists and becomes more of Mula, takes down all paintings in his house and tries to force his mother to wear the Hijab.

Iman Ali plays the character of Maryam, who is a cousin of Mansoor and Sarmad and has lived all her life in UK. She is in love with a white British boy and her father disapproves it. Her father himself is living with a white female while not being married to her. He tricks her into taking her to Pakistan where he forcefully marries her against her will to Sarmad, the marriage is conducted in a village on the Afghan-Pak border.

Mansoor on the other hand lands into trouble after 9/11, he marries his white girl friend, but is arrested by the FBI on a complaint of a neighbour as he was a Muslim. He is then put through different torture cells to try to get him to accept that he is associated with terrorists.

I won't give the rest of the plot, as I would like others who haven't watched the movie to watch it. But by the end of this movie, you will be questioning a lot of your beliefs and thoughts. What you think is right, is that really RIGHT and what you think is wrong, is that really WRONG. I truly enjoyed this movie and I hope movies of this calibre are created more to awaken us.