Naseeruddin Shah's Pak film angers clerics

Monday, August 20, 2007

Washington (ANI): Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah starrer 'Khuda Kay Liye' has become an unqualified hit in Pakistan, although radical clerics have issued a fatwa against it. The film, produced the Pakistani media conglomerate GEO TV Network, features issues such as marital rape, forced marriage and jihad. It not only depicts Muslim radicals but the US military also.

In the light of the opposition to the film by local mullahs, arrangements of metal-detection devices have been made at the theatres that are showing it. "It's heroic for the population to want to see this film," Contactmusic quoted GEO TV chief Mir Ibrahim Rehman as telling Newsweek magazine. "We didn't want to make a popcorn film. We wanted this film to prompt a dialogue and discussion," he added.

Movie buffs, however, say that the film depicts Islam in a soft, lenient manner, and is a great entertainment package for the entire family. Unlike the usual Pakistani dramatised dialogues, the film has a brilliant script. The main aim behind its production is to revive the ailing film industry of Pakistan.