well isnt the perception of pakistanis being of arabic origin and not "indian" roots being taught all around ..............

on n I loved the way you've added "AL" to Eng n Urdu words in the pics.. "AL-Too Hilarious Paracha"...lol

very true! Ignorance on both sides.. that is what this war is all about. war of ignorance!

Zero Dark 30 was a fictional CIA propaganda. PAF knew when the Helicopters entered our airspace. Even the Army knew. They wanted Americans to do their Dirty Job. Unfortunately, a low life terrorist murderer is admired so dearly in Pakistan that our Country wanted someone else to clean up their mess. Every kid in the world knows that certain factions of ISI were hiding obl in Abbottabad.

hahahaha that was best.

on n I love the way you've used "AL" in Eng/Urdu words in the pic Paracha...Hilarious ...or should I say "AL-Too Good"? :P ;) lol

oh n I love the way you've add "AL-" to Eng/Urdu words in the pics... hilarious or should I say "AL- TOO GOOD" ? lol... ;)

Wow. Just wow. You're a genius.

Then what? You didn't complete the sentence.

Hahahahaha!!!! Hilarious! Really feel for you guys man! You should see the stereotypes they show in movies where the location is India, or a character is Indian. Every indian man only wears a kurta, all women are decked up in gaudy jewellery and bright clothes even if they're just waiting for the bus, all of India is a slum, and all Americans going for work in India are coming for slum development projects, the list goes on and on. Lol!!

bhai jee app koo pata hai kay pakistani qoom duniya kay har konay main mojod hai our mazay kee baat yeh hai kay pakistani koo apni pehchan nahin kerwani perti. pakistanion nay too in koo punjabi our urdu bhi sikhai hai. jahan tak too awam ka talaq hai un koo pata hai pakistani kea bolty hain our kea khatay hai. but what they showed that is funny. even they knew we are from indo-pak region. lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

hahahaha...funnnyyyy...you cracked me up NFP..you turkey..!! .lol...very funny captions on the pics too..i'm gonna share it w/ my americans friends today...good job...also now i wanna see the flick too..will comment on that later perhaps.. lol.

NFP, this was funny indeed, yet still, you manage to make Pakistanis look more ridiculous than Americans. What is wrong with you? I can assure you that even most educated Americans have s*** knowledge about Pakistan (as proves to be the case from Zero Dark Thirty). The same cannot be said about educated Pakistanis however.

Actually that's not true. Native Americans were always referred to as Red Indians. But as and when political correctness got more and more aggressive in America, were they referred to as Native American, just like Negroes are now called African American. Red Indians were named so, as they were coloured people, and Columbus assumed then to be Indian. Later, to distinguish them from the "Dot Indians" ie the Indians from the country of India, the Americans referred to them in the now politically incorrect term "Red Indian."

This is your best work so far.I haven't laughed so hard in quite a while. Thanks. Seher

I would be the happiest person to see OBLs dead body dangling somewhere. However it defies belief that after a full decade of a manhunt, when they finally claim to kill him they follow it up with such a cover up. No pictures, no dead body while all the world was treated to Saddams and his sons pictures. Remember this is coming from a nation that swore on the presence of WMD in Iraq, attacked that country and almost a million people have died. So everything that the US claims needs to be taken with a very big pinch of salt. Americans lead the world in many things and also in the art of lying and spreading false propaganda.

Then Pakistanis would have same fate as Indian Muslims. I hope people know how deep hatred and prejudice coming from Indians can be. Keep in mind Hindus in India are divided in castes for centuries. Muslims are even below the lowest caste (punishment that forefathers converted). Indian Muslims have to be Indian first, Bihari/Tamil/Gujrati/etc. after that, and Muslims then. Indians also carry scar of their country broken by the British into pieces. So, they would love to call Pakistan kind of a satellite province of India (in the name of joining hands). Indians want to conquer of Pakistan in economy, society, and military terms. They may not annex Pakistan geographically though. For our lives, Pakistanis have to compete with India in all fields. There is no other option. It is either competition or subservience. However, let us not war with India or any other country. Let us compete positively. Let us use recent Indian development as a positive inspiration. We can make Pakistan better too if we start working hard and create some unity among ourselves. It pains me when our cricket stars of the past talk about Indian team and suggest Tendulkar to retire and Dhoni to bat up in the order, and so on. Why don't they talk about Pakistani cricket. Similarly, too many Pakistanis carry a sincere desire to be friends with India. Pakistanis are fools if they expect reciprocity of sincerity from Indians. Pakistanis must keep in mind all the time that Indians are 1000 times more patriotic and ambitious about their country than we are. So, expect no sympathy from them. Just work hard and make Pakistan better too so that we are equal to India or slightly better in some feilds or slightly behind in some others. I can go on and on but newspaper comment section is not the place to let these honest feelings out. These can be misunderstood or ignored.

"Silver screen is reality in America, the street is simply a dull copy. Many if not most people here think 9/11 was staged." What a load of bunkum!!!!!

and you know what. their media is the one who feeds hatred to Indians. No matter English (targeted towards so called educated Indians) and local language.

Get the statistics right. 1/5th of Indians are stupid, 1/4th of Pakistanis are so, and above all, 1/3rd of the Americans are that ! Let's start with gun control, shall we ?

Grow Up

Wow.. what a comment? would you mind reading it again for yourslef... that was nonsesne

you comment starts with "May be", you are not even sure. When someone thinks that a Pakistani mother tongue is 'Arabic' this is not just ignorance, this is studpidity or at least ignorance at its worst. in the end it is you who felt the 3rd degree burn..

Today I got to know that one (at least) of my Canadian friends believed that Pakistan's biggest crop is opium and Pakistan is the largest (may be the only) exporter of heroin. Problem is, these days electronic media and movies have become one of the largest source of informal education. Many people believe what they see in movies. Probably same is happening in non-world (world out side of us borders). Many people perceive Americans by their movie characters. This trend in increasing day by day. What you guys think the future has for us?

Nobody gives a s*** about Pakistan in USA

Or may be most of Indians now think that finally NFP has joined LeT.

nice

Tariq, really too long...may be we have met..one of many assumptions Pakistani's make everyday...as far as visiting my Homeland..I do it very frequently

Ofcourse the Pakistani ones

That is our problem we do not care a toss if Pakistan or our nation was maligned and stereotyped globally. Instead of getting into any investigative journalism and establishing that it was all a CIA drama and no OBL was ever there we gladly lend credence to the lie "WMD like" by endorsing the very objective of this stupid movie. Pity the nation!

Sad but true. It is a shame that even thoughbour country is pictured so negatively in some flims, we hardly work towards improving the image

You should read Pakistan's history. Who brought Pakistan to this stage? Who created and supported terrorists and corrupt army generals in Pakistan? The answers are the west and particularly America. You probably belong to the small number of Pakistanis who live in Islamabad and attended a class based western school. You don't even know what is happening in "CHICHUN KI MALIAN"

errr.........no. Sorry but you are wrong. Lost your bet.

NFP, it was Groovy. And then some......esp darth vader and the Islamabad traffic jam ;-)

Great work

Hold on a sec. I live in Peshawar, And no one wears turbans here. Even if they do, they're hardly enough to be noticed. Most wear the chitrali topi. And we've had tons of afghan refugees here, they speak pushto or persian. Not arabic. In fact, in my 26 years in Peshawar, the only arabic i've heard is the maulvi at prayer time.

Satire at it's best

Yes they truly depict USA

Yes, dont trust the media. You can ask CIA about ISI or vice versa. You will get the same glowing tributes about each other. After all, they have been hard working Americans and hard working Pakistanis for almost half a century!

Hahaha - one of your better articles

What is wrong in being friends with India, or any other country?

May be your man did not take you out there yet sweetie

"Pak will solve its problems sooner or later, but with Hollywood feeding these 330 millions Zero Dark Thirty, will America ever rise again?" Delusion is sometimes useful as a source of humour.

Thand pae gaee LOL.

I though you are picking up on Politics but it show your verstality - brilliant

Shubs: Greetings from Dearborn MI Many thanks for your comment. May I presume that if you picked up only this snippet as objectionable, you agree with the rest of the post? Best wishes

there is no other as awesome country as Pakistan. beauty, talent, resources. everything is here.

This is why this film will not be shown in Pakistan.

Bravo, something positive from NFP after so many decades.

Excellent piece of satire. It is said that truth is bitter but you always tell the truth in a sweet way.

Late Edward Said called it 'Orientalism'. This is how Europeas always depicted East - a exotic land of fairy tales, magic, Ali Baba and Arabian Nights. But that was when they were illiterate and living in poverty. Despite multi-culturalism, the East hasn't changed much for the Americans.

What does the Govt of Islamic Republic of Pakistan has to say about the truth? Was or was not OBL in that house that was raided by the SEALS or what was the identity of the people who were killed, or who were left alive. Did the Media investigate the truth? Did the Justice department seek answers for this question. Why are you looking for answers from others when things happened inside your own home.

That fits for us.we are a country who goes to war, loses lives, loses respect, flies to Washington, pays our PM's dinner bills , and then declares it as a great victory... what we do in war, they do in movies...(exaggeration !!!!)

Interesting, and funny.

Care to bet? Post your phone number and I can have all my Pakistani brothers give you a call tonight to prove it. Your comment says that no one from Oklahoma would say spot on. HOW DO YOU KNOW? Do you live here? LOL. Wow we just found a similar case of stereotyping that the author of this article is pointing out. Seems to me you like so many other people love to complain when one side does you wrong, but you totally fail to see yourself when you do the same thing back. Get an education buddy it would serve you much better than the thought process you have now.

From pakistan with love (to OBL)

Well said Abbas..but you can't deny the fact that so many Americans ( don't know how it is in Canada) are so ignorant about Pak and what really goes on in the country and all their knowledge is based on what media is feeding them,like NFP also pointed out how Pak is depicted in this particular movie,that doesn't really help either...!

It happened in your country, right next to your capital. You are the one who should know the truth and go about debunking the lies. But sadly all i hear is you all saying what US did was not true and it was just a cover up. Arey bhai why doesnt ur government, ur media, or you go and find the truth? If they are lying then you are a party to it too. So admit that.

Why the fixation with Bollywood? Hollywood made a movie like Charlie Wilson

okay,disclaimer people : my last comment for some reason wasn't showing up so i wrote it again AND again n the next thing i know ALL of them are popped up...lol..so ignore any two of them ...! ta ;)

awesome funny!!! This is really hilarious. I think you have portrayed realistic perceptions.

I just did and again why do your stereotype Americans and come on here and get offended when some Hollywood producer does it to you. I post a message of peace and hope and you want me to take a hike. There will never be peace in this world as long as there are people like you that never want to see positive changes. I will admit that here in Oklahoma I have a lot of work to do to educate my fellow people. My state is full of gun toting rednecks that could careless about the countries that border us let alone a country on the other side of the Earth. This world is full of uninformed ignorant people, and it's going to take real education to overcome that. Not listening to the person with the loudest mouth. Instead of ripping me and trying to look tough, try to be positive for our earth and for our children.

In addition, I know a Pakistani who just opened a new restaurant name "Alladin" northwest of Chicago.

I think the Pakistani Ones... lol

Caption of this piece is great.

I am sure Dawn will not publish my comment (Dawn loves India like rest of new Pakistanis have a tendency of trusting India). But most of the damage to Pakistani reputation was done by intelligent young, professional Indians living everywhere. Indians consider their moral duty to malign Pakistan on every forum possible in all sorts of ways including the most subtle ones. I am not saying Pakistan is a piece of heaven but Pakistan is unfortunate to have two most influential lobbies against it: Israeli and Indian. Then is it surprising that Pakistan is depicted worse in the media than it actually is? I am not promoting hatred towards India here but I want Pakistanis to not trust India and keep their country in mind all the time. It is perfectly okay to normalize relations with India and defuse the threat of war and resolve pending disputes. But don't let that sense of positive competition go or ambitious Indians will be all over Pakistan. I sincerely hope my message is not misunderstood. (I can bet that scores of Indian software developement companies will hunt for Trent and offer his company better cooperation from India if Trent's company abandones Islamabad-based partner company in favor of some Indian company).

Friends with India? Jamal think about what you are saying. Do you really believe India can be a friend of Pakistan? At best India and Pakistan can be two untrusting neighbors (I hope not two nuclear war parties). However, if Pakistanis keep condemning Pakistan as Indians want them to do, fairly soon Pakistan would be a subservient state to India and then you know what.

but its a movie!! and the americans have zero responsibility to e 100% accurate on lame shit like a few words of arabic spoken or head gear or whatever. the priority of the movie is this womans struggle to this goal... not the correct depiction of pakistan. the movie is not made for pakistanis. its made for americans and we all know that they dont even know anything about canada and they are arrogantly ignorant. so whats the point of getting every pakistani detail correct when it is more than enough to make a chor protest give an idea and feel of protest to white people to move the story forward. its a cinema. not a national geographic documentary on pakistan. in fact in the movie pakistan doesnt have a real role to play other than historic accuracy with its name, its just a prop in the movie. I nfact im pretty sure the house that osama was hiding in wasnt really the house he was hiding in. I dont see you complaining about that detail or the structure of the house or whatever whatever. I am indian and I 100% know all the things that were depicted wrong in the movie. but its ok to do that. all you have to do is when someone says is that what pakistan is like or.. you say no and point out the inaccuracies. simple. dont waste your time feeling offended and as people .. we need to stop relying on movies to get our information. you cant not rely on any media.. but lets just take movies with a pinch of salt. meet people, spend some time with them and THEN judge them and be racist.

Pathetic...just can't face the reality ..right??

EPIC Article. I would love you to a Pak-Bollywood pience

hilarious!

OOPS. I meant Hollywood. Many Thanks. Apologies.

Interesting !! But you, once again based on your bias, have given more weight to the stereotyping in Pakistan for US than in US for Pakistan. At least, in Pakistan, the young generation knows a lot about US, hollywood, their movies and wish to go for higher studies there...Your middleclass, upper class and educated class too. !! but what about US ? They only take us as insects, terrorists and third class human beings.

So goes for Sex and the City

This film was for those ill people who get health when they see any bit of hatred for pakistan and its people.

Haroon, you are right on the spot. I live in the United States. Did you see this article about agent orange? Mr Alan should definitely read it. http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/30/effects-of-agent-orange-ongoing-silently-in-children/?hpt=hp_c3

NFP. Are you still there?

Insanity par excellence. Is this really a Hollywood production? They need to go back to school.

lol...too gud...n as always rite on the mark!

lol, he did take advise from an Indian for sure.

And no American will identify himself as a 'white American' without any context...:-) Take a hike, "Trent"!

HAHAHAHAHAHAH! Spot on.

Interesting review...

I am an American ( with Pakistani heritage). Trust me most intellectual Americans are not very proud of our 1/3 stupid population but every country has a fair share of stupids and it creates diversity. If everyone in America was intelligent then they did not need any foreigners who practically represent 50% of American intellectual capital. However, I do not agree with NFP's assessment about director and producer being stupid. No, Kathryn Bigelow is not a stupid person. Contrarily she is very intelligent director. So, why did Kathryn totally lost the script when it comes to presenting the correct picture of Pakistanis. There are several reasons but few important reasons. 1) The target audience of this movie is redneck White guy. These are the people who assume Pakistani is a Middle Eastern country with Arabic speaking people who are very backward. Trust me majority of Americans are not this way only 1/3. 2) In Hollywood, no Middle Eastern movie is completed without showing medieval looking people, camels and sound bites of Arabic language. 3) Pakistani is a Muslim country and some forces in American media deliberately trying to show Muslim culture in negative lights. The movie offers perfect opportunity since it will be watched by a huge western population. 4) If Pakistani people were shown as real, it would be highly boring. It would be just India not Pakistan (assumed). I think you got my point. I hope NFP next time you would offer a better critical analysis.

Guys, you must read my blog post on similar topic. http://newsexcuse.blogspot.com/2013/01/what-zero-hot-thirty-tells-about-cia.html

Good. But some of the Pakistanis might be tempted to think that at last NFP has fallen in line.

Wikipedia says: As of January 28, 2013, Zero Dark Thirty has grossed $69,904,000 in the U.S. and Canada, along with $7,700,000 in other countries, for a worldwide total of $77,604,000 and thus becoming the top-grossing film of its wide release premiere weekend.

This is totally, media driven, foolish controversy propaganda.... i wonder anyone sensible would believe it?? no way, i know foreigner living in Pakistan over twenty years and they even do not want go back to their countries. How stupid the media licensing system is whoever passed these movies... I am really wondering on the qualification of the people who work there. To know the real picture you can just open any Pakistani Channel for five minutes... I can just laugh on this childish unprofessional mock over any foreign culture. I pity the country who has professionals with this kind of approach towards Work.

Movie makers arent dumb. They do this to keep their public misinformed just as we do to our masses. Loved the piece, NFP. In the movie Vertical Limits, a pakistani general tells the white guy that we fought 3 wars with India yet we love Indian tea.. Pakistanis love african teas. 70% of our cup has Kenyan/African teas and the rest of 30% is made up with teas from various countries, including India. So, this is not because the makers of movies are misinformed. Its about keeping their people misinformed.

You are not an admirer of NFP if you have not understood this plain and simple satire. This article is his signature.

lol. last cartoon was really the master piece.

Brilliant!! :P LOL

Nadeem, welcome to the club. After half a century of elephants and snake charmers, now Hollywood-India has graduated to call centers. And oh, the elephants are snake-charmers are still on the roads just outside the call-centers...:-) And did you notice the Chinese with the notoriously bad teeth, or the effeminate English, or the scheming cowardly French, not to mention the brawny but dumb-as-rocks Russians? Where would Hollywood be without its stereotypes?

@uroos and what makes you believe the stories told about osama being actually in Pakistan and then killed? any proof given until now?

This not the only example, in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, in Dubai just underneath Burj Khalifa all the ladies were in veil and streets were of 18th century and in the same movies all the futuristic cars were shown in India, along with the ultra modern car park. Bhai Jaan yeh sub Yahoodi saazish hay! deliberate.

I follow your work on dawn a lot.. not because i agree with what you say.. its because i wanna see the world from anothers perspective.. though this is the first time ever that i cant find a single point from where i could disagree from you. loved this piece from you, sir!

Yallaaa gooodi articalaaa habibii ..... Agreed - why in the earth didnt the movie maker hire some one to help them know about Paki culture? ...if this movie gets an award -Yallaa Oscaraaa ridiculousaaaaaa .....

Excellent .... a great piece about the mindsets of Americans -

Ironic...but most of the pictures are rather true

I have been in the US for around 5 years now, and they don't think of India as just poverty any more, they think of us as people who are stealing there jobs.

Hollywood has faltered on many occasions but as much as this. NFP is 100% correct here. had the movie been allowed to be shot in Paksitan, the results would have been closer but no one would risk their money to shoot at a place with such grave security concerns.

Love the depictions. I have some American friends and still they could not understand that I am a Pakistani then why i cannot speak Arabic and also why I always tell them that we grow our own vegetation and food despite Pakistan is a desert as a whole with no water and only camels.!!!

Why are you so genious ??? GREAT!!!!!!

Epic

For heavens sake, amar, this is SATIRE!! It's supposed to be exaggerated. This is typical NFP: Taking absurdities of reality and commenting on them with absurdest satire. Relax.

Hilarious article, though hardly surprising hollywood depicts Albakistan as it does, if the navy seals were able to dupe our whole security apparatus and launch an attack next door to our elite army barracks then uncle Sam's citizens will have carte blanch to portray that country how they wish?

this time leave the India trip and look for a doctor.. lol offcourse...

hahahahahahaha. paji you have shown why you are champion of satire.

Good One, Ya Habibi :-P

Rabia, I know it's a SATIRE and SATIRE is certainly not absurd , but the use of sarcasm, ridicule, in exposing, denouncing. What I found in PAKISTAN in the eyes of AMERICAN perfectly true, but not AMERICA in the eyes of PAKISTANI. That's why told for self introspection. Certainly not a NFP standard piece.

Hilarious... NFP, in your second part, you didn't show the tree on which dollars grow in the US for easy pickings...

Morons are universal. NFP found some in the western side. Hilarious :-)

first we should make Pakistan jugular veing to Pakistan that our Quid-e-Azam said, *Kashmir is the jugular vein of Pakistan* only then thinking of becoming something in southAsia.

well said. second to your thought.

very simple argument to be placed.... pakistanis are a third world nation with rampant illiteracy and masses that doesn't have the access to information or even water to clean shit. ..... but when a first world country produces film like this ... there is only one reason behind it ... that is propaganda ... i would like you to comment on the international implications and perceptions of this film

hilarious and true for both Pakistanis and Americans

and Pakistan

I bet most of the Pakistanis love being mistaken for Arabs. They would like Pakistan to be how you have depicted.

Living in NYC i can relate to what is written in the article about the American's perception of Pakistan. Things that i have come across are; - Pakistan is in the middle east - Do you have cars in Pakistan? - Is there really a McDonalds in Pakistan? - It must be really hot living in a desert. - How come you know how to speak English so well and on and on Nice comeback about the amreekans NFP.

The West are not entirely ignorant, they just portray ignorance as a sign to show their arrogance and as if they really dont care to know about others. They also think the non-west are not worthy of understanding, and pretend to be total idiots at times, this is where the cream of highly educated people from third world countries have to compromise and live with the fear of being racially slurred, better than having life threat.

Wow, Nadeem F Parach. If memory serves me, this is the first time you have criticized anything "western" in favor of Pakistan. Why the sudden change of heart buddy?

pakistani officials gave the US the information a year before the incident... it was a re-election tactic for obama.

Americans won't be offended by that stereotyping really....they'll acknowledge it....

Alan, what do the Americans think about the fact that no WMD were ever found in Iraq but still they went ahead with their invasion which has cost more than a million lives? I think America leads the world in false propaganda.

Just because "majority" holds a perception doesnot mean its true.India had the same problem with SLUMDOG millionaire ,India has some very poor slums ,yes but the entire country is not Dharavi.And NFP did a great job,what are you on about?

I am sorry to see NFP miss the point that Americans dont want to learn any culture except their own.. they are happy with it and know the whole world follows it... They intentially used arabic language and guys with that kind of headgear and surrounding to give more intensity to the movie.. even though its based on facts, its still an movie and need some story building and thrill to succeed...

Yep. Paisa wasool. "If Pak were shown as real it would be highly boring" - lol, no LOL. The yawn factor of Pakistan is pretty below ground. But I get your point.

Actually I disagree about the depiction of Pakistan. I didn't think much of the movie itself. However, after the US invasion of Afghanistan, many al-Qaeda operatives (Arabic and Afghan) fled into Pakistan. These operatives were captured by the CIA and by the ISI and were in fact Arabic. These are the people shown in the movie speaking Arabic. As for the head garb, maybe you haven't noticed the change in the inner cities and in KP, growing number of religious groups are donning taliban-style turbans. It's not uncommon to go into Peshawar now and see large groups of people wearing these. Overall, the movie was well-made and well-researched. Where the movie faltered was in showing just this one side of Pakistan (the bad side of it). But then again, Americans have their typical blinders on and only see one side of it.

@Maha: And Pakistanis?

It is common in Hollywood movies to depict other parts of the world with such reduction to the prevalent stereotypes. I just wonder if the people who make these movies are genuinely that stupid or they just simply don't care about the rest of the world and there sensibilities.

May be because of their ignorance, they just depict whatever less/more they see. But you on the other hand show your ignorant attitude more than them out of frustration and a sense of inferiority. Of course they might be using sarcasm in movie or in the news, but your response on the other hand becomes the lower of the lowest intellectually. You start using kids and Jews for your counter defense. In the end, you turn out be a looser as they do not give damn about you and your articles, but certainly you do a lot to their. They are not lining up in front of Pakistani Embassy and begging for the VISA to migrate to their country. It

Abasyn bhai, you are the voice of Pakistan you always speak the truth ....YOU tell us about the facts ....we are all ears. Do not let them fool us. YOU tell us abt OBL, his hunt, his whereabouts, is he alive or dead?

So this movie is made by a citizen of a country where their own teams play american-football (the sissy version of rugby) against each other and the winner becomes world champion. Though it would be good if the implications of such propaganda are commented on. The article itself is a piece of art and very nicely thought out. I agree with every aspect of it.

So isnt the movie banned in Pakistan, so why bother. Or is this the way to increase the interest in the movie?

Hahaha: To answer your question who makes this movies? Well people who know they can get rich after making such movies. And guess what they r happily smiling to their banks now.

I would love to shake your hand sir.... someday..... and perhaps smoke a sneaky wacky backy ciggie with you

LOL! Loved it. Both parts: How Hollywood sees us and how us Pakistanis see America. You're a special kind of crazy, NFP - someone unique to both India and Pakistan. Even though I also love your serious articles, but your satire pieces are wonderful.

Insteresting display of idea. It is unfortunate that Film critisicm do not always reach the mainstream domain. It it was the case, it would help in empowering the western public of the changing global scenario.

Totally agreed! There were some other obvious things like: The US embassy is a building as modern as one can be, but in the movie its like a century old gov office. Marriot Islamabad, I was seriously offended by how bland they showed it in the movie! Oh and there was a sign that had stuff printed in devnagri script! How can they ignore that?

The idea of making movies is to entertain and not inform. People take movies so seriously and want information out of it. For information watch documentaries on National Geographic or BBC

Rajiv never said anything about American Culture. And the Aboriginal were in Australia. America had native red Indian. Pakistan is only a 66 years old, so does that mean we have no culture or did we carry it from Indian culture?

Doesnt matter what they want to or have depicted Pakistan as, the fact remains: Pakistan is the Golden Sparrow in today's world. It is the jugular vein of the Asian Market and it will soon be proven :) So as I say, raise your voices with me: PAKISTAN ZINDAABAAD! <3

All I want to say is... HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHA!

The picture with the Autorickshaw was that clicked in Pakistan?

wity and hilarious; make its series as well :P

garam :D

*Their

The reason is economics/ market sensibilities. They are making a movie which has to sell in the US and people in US. They are not making a documentary on National Geographic. Watch any subcontinent movie and see how we represent Americans or Africans. Honestly if they show the reality the audience would not be able to make out if its India Pakistan or Afghanistan

Golden Sparrow? Jugular Vein of ASAIN market? Please explain...............with logic and facts or were you also using satire as NFP?

:-) As usual love what you write.

Never saw the one about birds flying upside down over Pakistan cos it ain't worth a Dump!

I think there IQ is brilliant ,making them get away with whatever they want ,,it's our iQ that is Zero , we didnt bother even thinking and asking if the stories we were told of Osama being in Pakistan were true ,,,?? ...what abt that .

Yes plz ask him ,,we Pakistanis forgot to ask this very important question ??

I don't agree with you. There is not thing called "American Culture". America has no culture or history . The country is hardly 500 years old. Real American culture should be native(Aboriginal) culture, the original owner of the land. Have you even heard about it?

how could you know that events which led to the death of Osama were accurately presented. Oh! you also pitching hollywood as a consultant on Pakistan

NFP can find humor in any thing . He knows the story of both sides. Only a few do.

well you can always tell them that globalization has its pros and cons, compete or die!! :P (they should watch the 3 Idiots and "Koyl birds scene" :P

On a more serious note, this is exactly how a propagnda movie is supposed to depict Pakistan. And for an average american, he does not care what "....istan" it stands for. For them all is part of "alif laila". That way the story becomes more interesting...

hmmm....the arabic and headgear was to show the future of Pakistan. This was a futuristic movie..... a lot like star trek etc. Yhe Picture ones were superb and spot on.

You are pissed! remain angry for a while, good for health.

NFP, I am your great admirer, however this piece of work did not seem to be your's. Question is what made others think so about your country. Here ISLAM is supreme and country is ruled by Terrorists. I don't find PAKISTAN in eyes f American as hilarious as majority of the people on this earth have similar perception about that country. However AMERICA in eyes of PAKISTAN was certainly not in a good taste at least not from the pen of NFP. Instead of criticizing others, we need to introspect to find out why others are thinking about us so and take corrective measures to correct the perception instead of depicting through vulgar pictures/statements and cartoons.

Great idea. Pakistan will be Saudistan in approximately 25 years.

Which planet do you live on?

err....which ones for instance?

Yes,"poor people" stealing their jobs, IT coolies.

...and now you've got me longing to see the film!

It had to be Arabic so that the " intelligent" American audience could relate it to Muslims . They are programmed to that. If it was Urdu people would think OBL was killed in China. Remember half of America thinks Obama and Osama are distant cousins.

Well these kind of movies r made to shape the thoughts of the people ,,how many of us have seen osama in real , hadnt cnn n bbc have told you that he exixsted would you know of his ezistance , ?? Ppl believe on the news channels as if they r reporting the truth ,plz wake up ,bbc ,CNN ,they all follow the agendas of their owners ,,my heart cries that no Pakistani asked for the evidence that Osama was in Pakistan ,,bcoz he was not ,,now watch the movie idiots n believe blindly ,,this is wat they want ,,just watch with a mind of a kindergartner who believes on whatever is shown to him ..

I am an American, born and raised here, everyone here knows that the Native American people were the first inhabitants here, and Europeans started coming here in the 15th century in droves. Armed with better weapons and diseases that the Native American's didn't have, it was pretty easy to take the land from them. Sad part of our history. I disagree that the US has no culture, we have many different cultures, we have Hispanic culture, European culture, Arabic culture, Native American culture and Asian culture here. The US is a melting pot of all kinds of religions, societies and history. You should probably seek to learn more about a place before you make blind comments on it. That is the problem with the world today, nobody wants to seek the truth on their own and they just believe whoever has the loudest mouth.

Hahahaha this is the best depiction of the movie ! loved it .... and the pictures are AL- Crazy !

Humorous..! Depicts the world view of the masses in this country.

I am a white American living in Oklahoma. One of my Pakistani friends (I have over 100 awesome Pakistani friends) send me this link. I find these images extremely funny, and somewhat spot on! Great job to the writer. American's and Pakistani people need to seek to find out more about each other without the influence of media. I have a company that works hand in hand with a company based in Islamabad. We do software development for US based companies, and the relationships we have built between normal hard working Pakistani's and normal hard-working American's are amazingly strong and mutually beneficial. You don't truly get to know someone unless you work with them on a daily basis, and our clients and our employees, are getting to know the true side of each culture. Armed with that knowledge and the strong friendships we now have, we can ignore 99% of false media lies. Get to know an American, find out about his/her life on your own. Don't trust what media tells you about each other. I tell my fellow American's the same thing.

bro, i hope this is sarcasm.

Check ur books, read up first.

top quality stuff NFP. kudos.

And the other half thinks Obama is a muslim - ignorant masses!

Parts of what you say are true. People in the USA have short attention spans and the producers of a movie need to maximize the two hours they have to keep our attention, because we are bombarded everyday with advertisements, music, movies, television. We live in a land of instant gratification, if someone can't produce something quickly, then the average American has lost interest. So Hollywood producers must quickly hit on the most stereotypical pieces they can about other cultures, so American's don't have to think too deeply on it. Again, they don't want to lose our interest. Your comment about how American's don't want to learn many cultures except our own, probably has a lot of truth to it. Like I posted earlier, American is a melting pot of all kinds of different religions, societies and races. You can take any city in America and easily draw the lines of where different people live. Mexicans tend to all stay together in a certain part of a city. Black people tend to stay together. Everyone wants to associate with their own kind so they feel accepted. Most people in America live in areas of like minded people. So when we see so many different people in our own country, we tend to get enough education on other parts of the world right here at home. This makes people less likely to branch out and learn about another country. I strongly believe that American's should study the world more than they do, but with all the entertainment and distractions we have here, it's tough to find time in the day to do so. This is a problem with my society.

ha ha ha ROFL okay NFP you have atleast turned one english movie fan away from seeing this movie.Really can mediocrity never be beaten?HOLLYWOD has constantly disappointing since 2010.

Top Quality Satire and pretty much paints the real picture!!!!!

Welcome to the US, Agressive Brown Man, Your Place or Mine....bhahahahahahAHA. When Katy Perry said, 'Baby, You're a firework', she probably meant a Suicide bomber. I almost chucked-up my dinner from laughing. Freaking awesome NFP.

"Even a squirrel these days has to run around for a permit to enter and climb trees in that particular area". Lol well said!

Brilliant!!

they always show India and pakistan as poor, overcrowded, malnourished and irrational people. NFP as always right on the money.

i think you are missing the point bro...

Beliefs like your have put Pakistan in the sorry state that it is today. Optimism without any closeness to realism is a sure recipe for disaster.

@Indiausa. U2 have been exposed to uncle Sam's culture for too long, it's about time you were acclimatised, pay a visit to your homeland!

Amazing work Nadeem! It was truly hilarious.

Zero Dark Thirty is a torturous trash. I am glad it did not receive more than 5 nominations -- not worth even one.

Agreed. I think Shuaib only went through the first part of the piece.

tharki

what do you mean by transformed? NFP is a critic, he will criticize everything against the norm.

I'll have whatever he is drinking, I too will be a Golden Sparrow.

hilarious!

irrespective of what hav they presented as Pakistan....they still got advantage that people around the world believe in sensation of terrorism, arabic language, turbans, long beards, rocket launchers in children's hands and they associate it with muslim countries, especially with Pakistan. they in fact believe in amazing power of media which, very unfortunately, we need to work on in order to spread the truth....alas our media should have a mission but they are busy in making themselves more secular to become friends of india....but believe me this is not the way to progress...we can only have a 'say' when we will progress in media and other fields...not only in the field of changing ideologies every next day...

Groovy !

There is no such a thing as "Red" Indian. This is a term that desis coined for the native Americans to distinguish them from the sub continental Indians. In the US, nobody understands what a "Red Indian" is.

can you really blame them? No one ever gave a satisfactory answer to why Bin Laden was resting a mile away from Pak military.

What are Americans to think of Pakistan when no one is willing to talk about what Bin Laden was doing resting a mile away from Pakistani military institute? Has the government or the media in Pakistan tried to give any explanations to the Americans - what are they to think?

manomoni: Greetings from Dearborn MI Oh even nostalgia is not what it used to be, let alone Capitalism. In fact for the last 20 years I have pitched tent mostly in North Africa, Middle East, Malaysia/Singapore, and American West coast. And in the meantime sometimes making 6 trips to Pakistan in a year. My generation weaned on Iqbal (sara jahan hamara) never felt that we were "leaving" Pakistan when we went abroad. I would have thought that now with 10,000,000 of us outside Pakistan, Iqbal's universality among them would have sprouted like wild oats, but from your comment it seems otherwise, unless, or course, if you are from India, then I understand you fully. You see, India belongs to Indians, but the whole universe belongs to us Muslims. Inshallah one day we shall obliterate borders made by men. Best wishes

G.A. Orientalism was patent European, and largely Anglo-French, never Russian or German who went the other way in adopting Hindu swastika as their own. NFP satire aside, American opinion about Pakistan (and Pak opinion about America) is pretty sanguine. Whereas Euro-Asian relationship was master-slave, to be fair Americans have been pretty collegial (although few Pakistanis would agree with me). And for us here in America, "Orient" is the Exotic Far East - China, Japan, Korea et al, never the Levant. Best wishes

Pakistani media promoting secularism, you must be joking.

Your name tells how hung-up you are with "USA". Working with many H1B, and how they live in this country I know where you are coming from !!

Zero Dark Thirty is America

Looks like you put this all in a hurry NFP ... I have seen better work from you..

There are no Discos and Nightclubs in Kuwait either.Period!

Dear NFP, The article while true does not represent your IQ. You are a lot better than this. This is too light weight for you. This is from an admirer.

no offences . Its my office in DLF cybercity Gudgaon :-D , lot of nice infra around that place and rapid metro is coming up. Please dont kill me ,pleaseeeee. :-P

And the funny headgears... Well Alladin wears one, so do all Pakistanis. That's the American point of view.

Hahaha, hilarious..

bwahha... realy spot on ... and seriously we need satirical writers like you in India newspapers .. :|

Yes but both India and Pakistan are poor, overcrowded, malnourished, irrational people living in squalor. Do you need more to prove it!

:D

Thanks NFP, for pointing out the errors. It was bothering me so much, I wanted to scream!

Not too mention the hindi written road signs they forgot to conceal during shoots in India

Fun read, I would be pleased if you had added the depiction of Peshawar in the movie, as it was shot in india, none of them looked like Pakistanis or to be precise, people of Peshawar, it was an epic fail for me there

come and see the Pakistan ,, i promise you will never ever saw such a beautiful country, though some bad people are spoiling the name of Pakistan but don't look at the dark side of the pictures,

LMAO, great job!

We Pakistanis dont need any further insight into our own mindsets. This is a Pakistani writer writing in a Pakistani paper for Pakistanis. Thats why Maha is amused over American mindsets.

A big thanks to the producer of "ZERO....", which has transformed NFP

Hilarious., especially 'Pakistan accordin to Hollywood'

Very entertaining and thought provoking critical analysis ! Just wondering how can we expose Western World to these conspicuous facts in a polite manner. The point is to make them realise of their inconceivable and ridiculous ideologies about us and our religion. Not abuse them and kill the conversation before it starts !

Abbas Sir, only 'one' thank you will do. Lol just kidding!

i live in us for past 2 decades and what you have above is pretty close to what many Americans think of Pakistan.

NFP graduates to bi-cultural wit. Bravo. Bollywood succeeds admirably at providing superb entertainment making no qualms about fantasy -

Stereotyping is required for characterization in a drama, serial or a movie. Have you ever watched how Hindus are shown in Pakistani movies/serials/drama? or how Bollywood shows Pakistani's. Well, as already said this movie was made for US public and is a top grosser now. The producers or directors had no obligations to stick to authenticity. I am sure if the showed authentically the American public can NOT make out the difference between a pakistani/hindustani/afganistani. And ask any South East Asian in US or Canada, and they will tell you they are most commonly mistaken for being Mexicans!

Does this get into these American Heads that their media is destroying their culture and psyche?Thumbs Down to such a freedom of expression.Auteurs like Bigelow,Boal and Annpurna Films should be made illegal and must be banned.They are a cult who want fame and recognition.I think they have reached their Point Break!.

IQ is a 'meyyar' of parathas one eats daily - Rehman Malik PhD

Nadeem randomly talks sense.

A mistake is a mistake. Director should had taken some guidance from Pakistan or at least some Indian guy.

Dont know why Mr.abbas is still sitting in capitalistic Canada? He can come to west asia or pakisthan to enjoy the bounty and peace and away from capitalism!

"Though sharp in its production and direction and largely accurate in depicting the events that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden" I have not watched the movie but have watched few older movies where they show Arab muslims, dumb, rigid and stupid. unfortunately the Arabs and now most of the Muslim world has not done much to prove otherwise. Could this be an attempt from the producer and director to show todays muslim masses in Pakistan and their mindset that blindly follows Osama, Mullah Umar and ect.....?

I do agree that some parts of the movie could have been less sloppy e.g the use of Arabic but otherwise the movie was fine. They couldnt depict Islamabad as it is because the movie wasn't shot here and the bazaars shown were those in Rawalpindi and Peshawer which are kinda like that. Apart from that how life in Pakistan was showed well I imagine any CIA agent working in Pakistan would feel like he is in hell heck we Pakistanis feel scared all the time and let's face it Pakistan is rampant with terrorism and there is no sugarcoating it!

I suggest you read the article at least before commenting. The writer's focus is on the lack of basic knowledge of Pakistani life. Not the politics behind OBL. By the way, what exactly are Pakistanis to make of the nation that blew up over 90 children through drone attacks without a blink of an eye, yet (rightly) mourned the deaths of 22 of their own. All life is equal... yeah right, BS.

Well Uroos please dont cry ....there are two aspects to this. Are there not videos circulating around inciting people for jihad with footage of OBL touting a gun and giving sermons/lectures. So you think "those" clips did not influence people in to believing his existence or people just went crazy and believed that, all those fighter did not follow CNN or BBC. Now you will counter me by saying "So who made this OBL so famous" Well I would say a person is made famous by his followers and not his enemies. And please refrain from calling others idiots and kindergarteners, even if you are the only genius person roaming the earth: People watch movies for entertainment, to get away from the mundane problems of their lives.

Really!!! a little criticism with a hint of sarcasm can't be that bad.

This is Hilarious :D

LOL!!!! Yes this is quite funny, Havent watched this movie, but can imagine that the stereotypes cast in the movie. The director actually came up with an excellent first movie before this. When shooting a "real-life" situation they should ve been more authentic in their depiction of the content. It was actually shot in India for starters. i guess thats the problem when it comes to stereotype but an oscar nominated movie should be better. But then ask Marlon Brando about how good and true the oscar awards are!!!!

Yeah Fahad I am missing the point. At one instance they say that the movie is not good for public viewing as it may lead to violence (me missing the point here too) then we discuss the movie and its fallacies. Well to me it seems a good way to entice people in to thinking ....hey lets watch this movie after all. Just for the laughs. And there you go. The best way to popularize anything is to BAN it. Curiosity got the cat!

Another sparkling, refreshing tonic from NFP. We laugh while having to take it seriously. There's irony though, when finally sitting back and thinking about it. Write a funny spoof about America, and most Americans (not everyone, but most) will laugh along with you. Write the same kind of spoof about Taliban, and you'll get death threats: not just to you, but to others also in your profession. .

Dude, you ain't an American from Oklahoma! No one in Oklahma says 'spot on'. You're a 'chor'!!

hahahahah, the best article ever! and perfect description of pak/us stereotypical misconcepts about each other in the minds of some. loved it!

LOL, always a riot Mr. Paracha. Here's a more serious, more comprehensive breakdown of the poor depiction, with movie stills and everything. It adds to your post nicely. http://cinemapakistan.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/zero-dark-dirty/

Bollywood feeds Western invincibility, but that can be deadly. Did you mean Hollywood sir?

Hollywood is 10 times "paisa wasool" than Bollywood. Taking advice from Pakistanis would have hurt the bottom line. Remember "Charlie Wilson's War" was even further from reality. But hey, did you not know that our god is the almighty Dollar.

NFP has written about ignorance in both the countries....what Americans have depicted in the movie and what Pakistanis think about america

Last cartoon is a masterpiece for ages to come.

LOL!!! Sir, wish we had such journalists in India!! Great wit and satire.

America my dear do have a culture, 90% of the world listens to their songs and copies their music, tries to wear cloths that they wear... buy same gadgets they use... culture does not have to be some poor people singing and dancing in a language that 90% of the world does not understand... anyways my point was simple... They make movies only for american people... they know if americans like it.. whole world would watch.. that should tell you something... and if the movie is so bad like you guys think... it will fail in rest of the world... have you checked how much money its making..

Awesome article. But what our media shows about us to the world, the world will have only that much understanding of Pakistan.

Hahahahahah! I love your depiction!. Well said - The movie didn't not even hint at the impact of terrorism in Pakistan - besides the 2008 marriot bombing, the movie didn't highlight any other death or bombing!

@ Abbastoronto : agree with most of what u wrote BUT as a general rule a comment can't be longer than the article itself.

No words could have illustrated the misgivings about each other better. Hilarious and brilliant. Need more of this stuff.

Where is your sense of humor bro. Laugh it off and stop balancing the books all the time. It only shows a possible complex. Get over it and you will be salvaged out of shallow thinking.

I ran away from Pakistan and never want to come back..but thanks for trying.

what is Pakistan then?

When journalists in India give up their jehadi mentality, they will be able to write like NFP.

Thats nothing. A million Iraqis are dead and the world was told that US is going in to find weapons of mass destruction. Found any yet?

Too Funny, yet ironically true

Exactly like how muslims think their deen is superior to everything else. While they keep saying "there's no compulsion in religion", they actually mean "islam is the best, rest are man made flawed paths". Isn't that arrogance ?

You are right...the more one gets deeper into islam, the more one feels and believes that arabs are the chosen people and others are inferior. That kinda sets the "i wish i were an arab" psyche for them.

When you act as Arabian barbarians, the world will mistake you as Arabs.

Al Quada around bin Laden was composed mostly of Arabs, and speaking Arabic might have been handy. Eh? Ergo, the headgear. Maybe? Suspicious people with guns, headphones, and cameras waiting all day on the street across from criminals talking and gesturing loudly outside their safe house with open windows with other people and naked women speaking loudly is an idiocy of all American TV cop shows and movies, because the Mob would never find that suspicious nor drug cartels nor anyone. Get with it, Pakistan. Get hip.

Alan, because small group of primitive thinking people called" al-keda" made your CIA spent $500M to locate OBL.This was "sheer American stupidity" on a colossal scale.The problem is that America tries to wash off every unprovoked aggressions with money and propaganda and as may know by now it has never worked and it never will. Hollywood (war) movies of the fifties and sixties made German army and its people look stupid. So nobody can blame why American are so ignorant, arrogant and plain stupid when it comes to other cultures and people. It is your Hollywood that teaches you all this. So garbage in, garbage out my friend.

curiousforeverr: Greetings from Dearborn MI LOL. Pakistan, a half way around the globe? Most Americans know diddly squat about Canada, their erstwhile neighbour. The fundamental question of Existence is Survival, Growth, and Evolution. Necessity is the mother of invention. People will seek knowledge only if it aids in their SGE. Have you ever seen a truly beautiful girl or a truly handsome man at any university anywhere in the world? Such do not need to go to school, as they can do god

I haven't seen it but my dad has..he told me that the number plate of terrorists car was 0786...

NFP its time you make a film, a hilarious film full of sarcasm blowing all the myths abt Pakistan!!!

No no i didn't mean that....to become India's friend does not mean to lose our own identity....we can be good friends without adapting each others' ideologies.....i believe in good neighborhood

You are missing the point. The movie is thoroughly unwatchable for multiple reasons. Yet, it shows the liberties that people will take with societies that they do not know or do not care enough to know. The film-makers did not need in depth research on the ground to know that Arabic is not the language of everyday chit-chat in Pakistan or Abbottabad is not exactly a 45-minute drive from Islamabad. Basic Google search would have unravelled the mystery. It is patronising and insulting when people make grossly inaccurate, generalised observations about a group and perpetuate those myths arrogantly.

i didn't mean that at all....we can be good friends without leaving our ideology based identities....and yes media is playing part into efforts of converting the country into secular state

This was made by hollywood so such misinformation was expected. But has anyone ever seen Agent Vinod.. I mean seriously, there is a totally waxed lady in shortest clothes possible trapped inside a sack just waiting to be discovered by the hero. Talibans hate such women, right? Why didn't they execute her? ha ha ha! then secondly everybody in Karachi was greeting Adaab Adaab to each other? When was the last time did you hear anyone greeting in such a way in Pakistan?

Shubs: Glad you had a laugh. Best wishes

This piece reminds me of Edward Said's Orientalism. Its all about how the other is percieved and I think this article does a good job in showing that.

Trent,we have 'rednecks' in Pakistan as well..Bare with it.

I didn't believe it untill Taliban confirmed it. And I'm a conspiracy theorist.

nice article except that you're WRONG about Zero Dark Thirty providing an "accurate" depiction of the hunt for bin Laden. Very far from it. You should read the many critical articles written about just how wrong it is.

since we ain't got discos and bars and malls and cinemas, we read dawn.com all the time.

White ppl driving cabs... actually they steal our jobs too..

You don't get it. You don't "ban" them, for the fundamentally democratic reason: the person who bans those whom you don't like, can grow higher and supreme in Ayatollah-like authority to ban other expression (including yours) someday. Rather than governmental "banning", a more effective force is public ridicule. Poor work like "zero dark 30" may titillate for its moment, then go down as a stupid failure in history. The judgement of history, through the experience of democracy, is what humanity grows on. NFP got it hilariously right. Read it again and laugh. .

NFP is finding his true value of his country in the world. My friend does'nt matter how ultra modern you try to portray yourself, the truth remains how the majority of ppl in Pakistan behave and what their thinking is. Just try walking the streets and ask a shia or a hindu ( if you find one) what he thinks about his security in the land of pure.

Though satire many of those said above are having some realities too

Yes Pakistan and India are one and the same place and they have the same culture. . people of these countries have lived together for thousands of years. The hatred between muslims and hindus was the invention of devious British mind and the sorrow fact that two egocentric leaders had dislike for each other. Also go and check the meaning of word Aboriginal in dictionary. Also read a little about social psychology and understand the meaning of word"Culture" and you will realize that the "American Idol" based society is far away from culture. American culture can be easily defined with wild west mentality,gun and violence.

You are hundred percent right, American businesses will do any thing for money. Also remember it is a country where slavery was practised until 200 years ago. The word Negro is the invention of American culture.

It seems Quaid e Azam was a surgeon.

We see the world the way we like to .. and this film is no different. I was some times amazed to learn that some of the free world people never believed that ppl in Pak could converse in their language. Biased, prejudiced.

It's typical of Americans not to do research on a topic but to go in straight with stereo types on a subject or as for that matter on foreign policy too. Iraq and Afghanistan come to mind as does Viet Nam. Blunders if you want to call a ten year war a blunder which would be a misnomer in all the cases. Killing innocent people in American language is just collateral damage. Killing people thousand miles away from the secure homeland is 'suspected' taliban when you blow up a wedding party. Nice.

Another American propaganda about how wrong the world is and how right the Americans are... In the final analysis - the propaganda wins simply because Osama was found on Pakistani soil, a few kilometers away from a Military base

love it!