July 21, 2008	Monday	Rajab 17, 1429

KARACHI, July 20: ‘So near, yet so far’ is the theme of Ramchand Pakistani, which premiered in Karachi on Sunday. The first feature film to be directed by Mehreen Jabbar, who had in the past few years established herself as a TV serial director who dared to be different, the movie was the country’s official entry to four international film festivals, which includes the 10th Osionn’s Cinefan Film Festival in New Delhi, where it won the International Federation of Film Critics Award.

The honour bestowed on the film was announced at the end of the show by the movie’s producer, Javed Jabbar.

If one were to describe the most important quality of the film in one word then one would say it is authentic. It was shot near the Pakistan-India border in Thar, adjacent to Kutch.

The music is authentic too. It remains in the background but heightens the effect of what the cinematographer catches through his lens. The jail on the Indian side was faithfully recreated somewhere in the outskirts of Karachi.

Though not all performers, and that includes the noted Indian actor Nandita Das, are not from Thar and certainly not from Kutch, they have imparted authenticity to their roles. The icing on the cake is the boy who played the younger Ramchand (there are two child actors playing the character in two different periods), who strays across the border and is caught by the Indian Border Security Force. His father, who pursues him, is also caught. They are imprisoned in the Bhuj jail.

While still on authenticity, one cannot help mention that the movie has been based on a true story of a Pakistani Hindu boy straying into India, and following him was his father. Both of them were released and the ending of the movie is not mushy. It sticks to the end of the real story. No one is painted black in the movie, except of course the feudal lord who exploits the poor and a couple of inmates of the jail, who have their eyes on the boy.

Mehreen Jabbar has made an impressive beginning in the field of cinema, but surely she could not have achieved success without the contributions of her scriptwriter Mohammad Ahmad, cinematographer Sofian Khan, editor Aseem Sinha and composer Debajyoti Mishra, whose exquisite score would need a separate piece.

Singer Shafqat Amanat Ali sounds quite good, but vocalist Shubha Mudgal is simply outstanding, particularly when she sings Teri meri preet sajan.

The film will be released in Karachi on August 1 and in some Indian cities towards the end of the month.—AN