Khamosh Pani
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Khamosh Pani'' ( Punjabi: (
Shahmukhi Shahmukhi (, , , ) is the right-to-left abjad-based script developed from the Perso-Arabic alphabet used for the Punjabi language varieties, predominantly in Punjab, Pakistan. It is generally written in the Nastaʿlīq calligraphic hand, whic ...
)
, ਖ਼ਾਮੋਸ਼ ਪਾਨੀ (
Gurmukhi Gurmukhī ( , Shahmukhi: ) is an abugida developed from the Laṇḍā scripts, standardized and used by the second Sikh guru, Guru Angad (1504–1552). Commonly regarded as a Sikh script, Gurmukhi is used in Punjab, India as the official scrip ...
)
; ''Silent Waters'') is a 2003 Indo-
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
i film about a widowed mother and her young son living in a Punjabi village as it undergoes radical changes during the late 1970s. Shot in a Pakistani village, the film was also released in
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. It won seven awards, including
Golden Leopard The Golden Leopard () is the top prize at the Locarno International Film Festival, an international film festival held annually in Locarno, Switzerland since 1946. Directors in the process of getting an international reputation are allowed to b ...
(Best Film), Best Actress, and Best Direction at the 56th
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
,
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
.Swiss honour Pakistani movie
BBC News, Published 18 August 2003, Retrieved 11 March 2021


Plot

In 1979 in Charkhi,On location shooting actually done in Wah village,
Hasan Abdal Hasan Abdal ( Punjabi; ) is a city in the Attock District of Punjab Province in Pakistan. Located 40 km northwest of the country's capital city, Islamabad, Hassan Abdal is the headquarters of Hasan Abdal Tehsil (sub-district). As home of ...
,
Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...
, Northern Punjab. See
a village in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Ayesha (a middle-aged widow) lives with her son Saleem, a teenager in love with schoolgirl Zubeida. Ayesha supports herself and Saleem with her late husband's pension and by giving lessons in the
Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...
to village girls. She refuses to go to the village well, and her neighbor's daughters draw water for her. Villagers like Amin, the postman, are troubled by the recent hanging of former prime minister
Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (5 January 1928 – 4 April 1979) was a Pakistani barrister and politician who served as the fourth president of Pakistan from 1971 to 1973 and later as the ninth Prime Minister of Pakistan, prime minister of Pakistan from 19 ...
by Zia-ul-Haq, the new military ruler who has promised to enforce
Islamic law Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on scriptures of Islam, particularly the Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' refers to immutable, intan ...
and encourages Islamic missionary and political groups. Two Islamic activists come to the village and, supported by the village choudhury, spread their message of Islamic zealotry and gain recruits to fight the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the largest country by are ...
. The older men in the village are disdainful of their intolerance and puritanism, cynical about Zia's postponement of elections and angry when the activists accuse them of being traitors. The activists gain a following amongst the village youth, including Saleem. They cajole and intimidate Saleem into attending a political meeting in
Rawalpindi Rawalpindi is the List of cities in Punjab, Pakistan by population, third-largest city in the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is a commercial and industrial hub, being the list of cities in P ...
, where the speakers exhort the audience to commit themselves to
jihad ''Jihad'' (; ) is an Arabic word that means "exerting", "striving", or "struggling", particularly with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it encompasses almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with God in Islam, God ...
for the creation of an Islamic Pakistani state. Attracted by their zeal and call to serve Islam and Pakistan, Saleem (who wants to be more than a village farmer) breaks up with Zubeida and becomes estranged from his mother. Ayesha unsuccessfully tries to discourage him from following Islamists. Saleem helps build a wall around the girls' school to "protect" them and enforces the closing of village shops during namaaz in line with Zia-ul-Haq's Islamisation, and Ayesha and Zubeida are alarmed by his transformation. After an agreement between the Indian and Pakistani governments, a group of
Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...
pilgrims from India, arrives in Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines. They come to Charkhi, the village they were forced to flee during the bloody
partition of India The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Dominion of India, Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan. The Union of India is today the Republic of India, and the Dominion of Paki ...
in 1947. A pilgrim wants to look for his sister, who he believes survived the violence. The visitors have a mixed reception: a warm welcome from the village barber and hostility from the growing number of young Muslim zealots. Saleem is embarrassed when he discovers that his mother sent food to the pilgrims and that she teaches the village girls that non-Muslims can go to heaven. The pilgrim asks some villagers, including Amin, if they knew if a Sikh woman survived the riots. They say they do not know, but Amin later visits the pilgrim's hut and tells him to look for the woman who never goes to the well. Following the girls who bring water to her house, the pilgrim finds Ayesha. When he asks her if she knows a Sikh woman who survived the riots, she anxiously tells him to leave. Saleem sees the pilgrim talking to his mother, and hears him call her "Veero" and tell her that her father wanted to see her before he died. Saleem is shocked to learn that Ayesha was Veero, a Sikh; in a flashback, she was among a group of village Sikh women lined up to jump into the village well rather than be raped by a Muslim mob in 1947. The Sikh men (including her father) want her to jump, but Veero runs away and is later caught, raped and imprisoned. Her rapist, remorseful, offers to marry her, and she begins life as a Muslim. Saleem reports this to his friends, who demand that Ayesha make a public declaration of her Islamic faith; she refuses and is shunned by the villagers, including her best friends. For the first time in over thirty years, she must fetch her own water. Ayesha meets her Sikh brother at the well but refuses to accompany him, condemning her father for encouraging her to commit suicide and asking how he would feel knowing that she was living as a Muslim. Her isolation increases, with only Zubeida keeping in touch with her. Realizing that she cannot escape her past, Ayesha jumps into the well. Saleem buries her, gathers her papers and belongings, and throws them into the river. In 2002 in Rawalpindi, Zubeida remembers Ayesha. In the street she sees a bearded Saleem, secretary-general of an Islamist organisation, answering questions about the compatibility of Islamic law with democracy.


Cast


Production

The role of Ayesha Khan was earlier offered to veteran Pakistani actress
Bushra Ansari Bushra Ansari () is a Pakistani actress, comedian, singer, and playwright in Punjabi and Urdu cinema, who started her career as a child performer in the 1960s. Ansari won numerous awards during her career, including the Presidential Pride of Per ...
who had to reject it to focus on her daughters' studies around the time the movie was being shot.


Reception

Taran Adarsh of indiafm.com wrote that "Very rarely do you come across a film that reflects the moods of the years gone by. KHAMOSH PANI Silent Waters' directed by Sabiha Sumar, is one such film. The thought-provoking film transports you to Pakistan during 1979, with frequent flashes of 1947 injected in the narrative".


Awards

* 2003: Won Top Prize at
Locarno International Film Festival The Locarno International Film Festival is a major international film festival, held annually in Locarno, Switzerland. Founded in 1946, the festival screens films in various competitive and non-competitive sections, including feature-length narr ...
Pakistani film wins top prize in Switzerland
Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 August 2003, Retrieved 11 March 2021
** Best Actress: Kirron Kher ** Don Quixote Award - Special Mention:
Sabiha Sumar Sabiha Sumar (born 29 September 1961) is a Pakistanis, Pakistani filmmaker and producer. She is best known for her independent documentary films. Her first feature-length film was ''Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)'', released in 2003. She is known ...
** Golden Leopard (Best Film): Sabiha Sumar ** Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Sabiha Sumar ** Youth Jury Award - Special Mention: Sabiha Sumar * 2003: Nantes Three Continents Festival ** Audience Award: Sabiha Sumar ** Silver Montgolfiere: Sabiha Sumar * 2003: Karachi International Film Festival ** Special Jurors' Selection Ciepie ** Best Actress in a Leading Role: Kirron Kher ** Best Screenplay: Paromita Vohra


See also

* List of Asian historical drama films


References


External links

* * {{Golden Leopard 2003 films Golden Leopard winners Films about suicide Films set in Punjab, Pakistan India–Pakistan relations in popular culture Films set in the partition of India Punjabi-language Indian films Punjabi-language Pakistani films 2000s Punjabi-language films Films about Sikhism Films about Islam