Jinnah

Who would have thought that a movie would come out about Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of modern Pakistan? Well, it happened. In 1998, director and writer Jamil Dehlavi made the movie, "Jinnah," which was historically accurate, and another one of my favorite movies. Here is the basic synopsis:

"Biography of Mohammed Ali Jinnah, played by Christopher Lee, the founder of modern Pakistan is told through flashbacks as his soul tries to find eternal rest. The flashbacks start in 1947 as Jinnah pleads for a separate nation from the Muslim regime, infuriating Lord Mountbatten, played by James Fox. Mountbatten then tries to enlist Gandhi, played by Sam Dastor, & Nehru, played by Robert Ashby, to persuade Jinnah to stop his efforts. Gandhi sides with Jinnah, which upsets Nehru. However, Jinnah turns down the offer to become prime minister and the film takes another slide back to 1916, which reveals all of the political implications that have occurred" (IMDB).

Now, in the movie, Jinnah falls in love with Rattanbai ('Ruttie') Jinnah (who would go by the name Maryam, even though she never used that name), played by Indira Varma, who is a Parsee that coverts to Islam when she turns 18. Jinnah's sister, Fatima, played by Shireen Shah, is a political activist in her own way and refuses to get married so that she can come along with Jinnah on "the long road of his destiny." This journey is very painstaking, as along the way, Jinnah asks an English officer, "Are we just cannon fodder?" and says that the deadly carnage he has seen of hundreds of thousands of his fellow countrymen in the name of independence: "I died a million deaths myself."

"Jinnah" goes away from the straight and narrow path by having The Narrator, played by Bollywood actor Shashi Kapoor, trying to get into a computer that has all of the data stored from the future, while traveling alongside Jinnah back in time, while reminiscing on his life. With these debates between Jinnah the older statesman and Jinnah the young, ambitious, who calls himself a "soldier in the service of the birthright of Pakistan," played by Richard Lintern, lighten the conventional picture-period format. The main attraction of the movie: Christopher Lee. What was very shocking was that Lee looked exactly like Mohammed Ali Jinnah in the movie.

According to Expat, a UK reviewer for IOFILM, he has stated that "Consummately well filmed, "Jinnah" pays painstaking attention to period detail - barring, perhaps, the supernatural cleanliness of even the marauding crowds - and prides itself on its historical accuracy. Extensive research using such primary sources as Lord and Lady Mountbatten's diaries and interviews with Jinnah's private secretary and his daughter affords the political discourse a sense of authority and authenticity. Still, the spectral interventions notwithstanding, "Jinnah" reads at times like unstirring stretches of history-book speechifying - but watching it is a palatable way to learn about the people behind the birth of a nation" (IOFILM).

One part that you can easily feel the pain for Mohammad Ali Jinnah is when his daughter, Dina Wadia, played by Vaneeza Ahmed (younger Dina was played by Nafees Ahmed), who he had through his second marriage with 'Ruttie,' (Jinnah was first married to Emibai Jinnah, who also happened to be his cousin) leaves him to go marry a Christian businessman named Neville Wadia. He urged her to marry a Muslim, but she reminded him that he did not marry a woman who were Muslims, but only converted afterwards. They became estranged from one another, and she did not come to Pakistan until his funeral.

Christopher Lee himself has said, "The most important film I made, in terms of its subject and the great responsibility I had as an actor was a film I did about the founder of Pakistan, called Jinnah. It had the best reviews I've ever had in my entire career - as a film and as a performance. But ultimately it was never shown at the cinemas" (Wikipedia). Not only did he say his performance was the best he ever did, but also stressed the importance of the film. You should watch this film, because it is historically accurate about Mohammad Ali Jinnah, or also known by his title, Quaid-i-Azam (Great Leader) and Baba-i-Qaum (Father of the Nation). If you would like to know about his lifestyle, and what he went through to get Pakistan's independence, then give this film a watch. Especially since Christopher Lee does an amazing job in this film.

Anyways, tune in next week where I will do my very first blog review on an animated film that you could say is another remake to "The Ten Commandments," but geared more towards children.