In the Name of God
I went cos i was bored.
It was raining buckets in Bangalore. We badly wanted to catch a Tamil movie, but with the hungama over Hoggenekal, we wisely decided against it. Living near Ulsoor, my friend's place is very close to the hip and happening MG Road. So last night we went to INOX to kill some time. Sheer curiosity drove us to watch Khuda Ke Liye.
To be honest, we went more to boo and pass comments on a 'paki' film. The hall had a modest crowd. Most of whom were PYTs and their current BF/BFFs. We were actually late and missed the first 10 minutes.
In a matter of half hour I was hooked. The story was about the dillemas of the muslim world in these turbulent times. I'm sure with a couple of cosmetic changes, it could have fitted in ANY culture.
Punjabis wanting to settle in'kaneda', marry goris and yearning for desi ghee parathas, a Tam bram wanting to eat sushi to appear 'kool' and confused about the religious implications of the act, hard-working taxi drivers being targetted in Mumbai/Assam by radical/local organizations on the basis of their ethnicity, cosmopolitan bengalis being confined at homes thanks to umpteen bandhs of their communist 'bondhu', the dillema of the average tamilian about supporting/not supporting the Lankan-Eelam conflict, the vibrations are not alien to us!
The film hits hard on the very dillema that haunts every youth (and the not-so-young NRIs also). How do we know where traditional becomes rigid and radical, when liberal becomes uncultured? What do we carry forward as time progresses? All of our traditional, cultural beliefs/laws/rules, or completely ignore them in the lure of the modern world? Can we balance both? and most importantly, will the world ALLOW US TO BALANCE THE OLD AND NEW?
The saying goes - When in Rome do like the romans (or something to that effect). So do we follow ALL roman practices or just the ones we like? Will the romans accept us as one of them if we 'that thing they do?' Or will we be thrown to the lions?
We have it easy say our parents. Information at the touch of a key, facilities they would not have even dreamed of, financial freedom, et al. We also have an identity crisis of proportions they never imagined. Who are the privileged lot? Us or them/
Bella
It was raining buckets in Bangalore. We badly wanted to catch a Tamil movie, but with the hungama over Hoggenekal, we wisely decided against it. Living near Ulsoor, my friend's place is very close to the hip and happening MG Road. So last night we went to INOX to kill some time. Sheer curiosity drove us to watch Khuda Ke Liye.
To be honest, we went more to boo and pass comments on a 'paki' film. The hall had a modest crowd. Most of whom were PYTs and their current BF/BFFs. We were actually late and missed the first 10 minutes.
In a matter of half hour I was hooked. The story was about the dillemas of the muslim world in these turbulent times. I'm sure with a couple of cosmetic changes, it could have fitted in ANY culture.
Punjabis wanting to settle in'kaneda', marry goris and yearning for desi ghee parathas, a Tam bram wanting to eat sushi to appear 'kool' and confused about the religious implications of the act, hard-working taxi drivers being targetted in Mumbai/Assam by radical/local organizations on the basis of their ethnicity, cosmopolitan bengalis being confined at homes thanks to umpteen bandhs of their communist 'bondhu', the dillema of the average tamilian about supporting/not supporting the Lankan-Eelam conflict, the vibrations are not alien to us!
The film hits hard on the very dillema that haunts every youth (and the not-so-young NRIs also). How do we know where traditional becomes rigid and radical, when liberal becomes uncultured? What do we carry forward as time progresses? All of our traditional, cultural beliefs/laws/rules, or completely ignore them in the lure of the modern world? Can we balance both? and most importantly, will the world ALLOW US TO BALANCE THE OLD AND NEW?
The saying goes - When in Rome do like the romans (or something to that effect). So do we follow ALL roman practices or just the ones we like? Will the romans accept us as one of them if we 'that thing they do?' Or will we be thrown to the lions?
We have it easy say our parents. Information at the touch of a key, facilities they would not have even dreamed of, financial freedom, et al. We also have an identity crisis of proportions they never imagined. Who are the privileged lot? Us or them/
Bella
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