Mansoor's 'Bol' mirror to patriarchal Pakistan

New Delhi: Shoaib Mansoor's next film 'Bol' has already been acclaimed in Pakistan. Shoiab Mansoor, the brain behind some immensely successful television shows in Pakistan, is known for the brave comments he makes via his stories.A well known face in Pakistan's popular culture circuit, Mansoor is everything from writer to music composer to director.

He decided to be a film director with critically appreciated 'Khuda Kay Liye', in 2007.
Later, it was released in India too. KKL brought forth the issue of fundamentalism and the argument of its religious legitimacy to the forefront. The intense debate that takes place in the court room in between a maulana, played by none other than Naseeruddin Shah, and a militia leader, broke many myths about the Pakistani society and its leanings. Full of secularist approach, this debate was the director's take on the matter of hardcore faith following.

The other very important factor about the film is its female protagonist, who denies obeying by the extreme rules of a patriarchal society. Not only this, the breeding of extremist ideology and the true explanation of Islamic rules were also the constituents of the film.

Shoaib Mansoor portrayed the confused life of Pakistani youths in a very convincing manner. The film was hard hitting and full of captivating arguments about trivial but vital issues.
Not many of the Pakistani filmmakers are known world wide, but Shoaib Mansoor, popularly known as ShoMan, is making his presence felt.

Mansoor's latest venture 'Bol' has already crashed all box office records in Pakistan, and going by the enthusiasm it has generated in multiplex going crowd in India, it seems that the business prospects are bright for the film.Bol, again has a female protagonist who fights for the rights of a girl child. The film exposes the paradoxes prevailing in an orthodox patriarchal society, where people are still not free from the clutches of class and caste problems.

Popular singer Atif Aslam is making silver screen debut with Bol, but the film belongs to the character of Zainub, played by Humaima Malik, who never forgives the father for killing her hermaphrodite, a person with the reproductive organs of both male and female, brother.

The family is under severe financial pressure, but the father refuses to understand the situation due to high brow attitude. The false sense of class pride eventually takes a batter from all sides but the man does not recognize it, in fact he becomes more brutal and starts doing all sorts of misbehaves with the family members.
The emotional saga ends with Zainub's hanging but leaves a lot of burning questions to be answered by the society.

Mansoor's strength as a director lies in the transformation of characters from one shade to another in a fluid manner. The transition seems completely natural on the screen but it remains with the audience for a long period. Many times the audience gets confused that which part of the character they should believe. Mansoor shows different facets of any character in the same breath, leaving the viewer wondering about their own ideologies.

Solution to a major cultural problem, which was terrorism, backed by strong religious arguments was the prime plot in Khuda Kay Liye. This time again, Mansoor seems to have an impartial look at another social evil of Pakistan.

Source : ibnlive.in.com