VIDEO REVIEW
(Movie: Khuda ke Liye)
The Pakistani movie “ Khuda Ke Liye”, which literally means “In the Name of God” in English, focuses on a very tough subject and it is mostly handled well throughout the movie. The beautiful portrayal of the Muslims living in the cities like New York, Chicago and so on after the 9/11 attack as well as of the Muslims who are either brainwashed and turned into religious extremists or who already are religious extremists is commendable. This “bold” movie is produced and directed by Mr. Shoaib Mansoor and was shot in Chicago, Lahore and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan.
The movie is basically about two musician brothers Mansoor and Sarmad, of which Mansoor falls victim to racial profiling and Sarmad turns into a religious extremist. They both belong to an upper middleclass family in Lahore with a blend of traditional and liberal values. Mansoor and Sarmad have their own music group and are shown as budding musicians in Pakistan. But, just when they start getting success, the younger of the two brothers, Sarmad, gets involved in an religious extremist group and leaves music because now he sees music as “haram.” At the same time the elder brother, Mansoor, goes to Chicago to attend a music school in order to further fortify his music skills. Now, Sarmad deceitfully marries his British born and raised cousin Mary (Mariam). Sarmad marries her ‘in the name of god.’ The UK based uncle (Mary’s father) was worried by the prospect of his daughter having an affair with a white British and fearing that he will be a laughing stock in his community traps her into a visit to Pakistan and sends her to an Afghan Village where she is forcefully married to her cousin Sarmad. But, the UK based uncle is himself living with a white British woman. Later, during the stay, Sarmad even rapes her ‘in the name of god’ as he was being brainwashed by Maulana Tahiri, who is another religious extremist and preaches or rather