January 22, 2015 -- This is a film, shot over a two year period in Pakistan, paints a picture of life in Pakistan through portraits of six people, a trucker, a journalist, a politician, a musician, a former Taliban fighter and a fashion designer.

Although the film spends some time with all these people, it spends more time with the politician and former sports star Imran Khan than the others. The film follows Imran to political rallies where he rails against the current government. Imran, a philanthropist and former cricket star, is trying to raise the popularity of his political party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Imran has some of the same problems getting things done as others profiled in the movie, including supermodel and fashion designer Vaneeza Ahmad, who can't get the Pakistani manufacturers of her new line of clothing to make the right prints or use the right dyes. Kahn can't seem to get to his next political rally on time, since his entourage wants him to stop in every little village along the way and talk to people. Only Imran seems to care about sticking to the schedule.

The trucker, Abdullah Khan, can't get his packages onto his truck on schedule for the same reason, a very casual attitude towards work and time management in Pakistan. According to those in the film, people do only the minimum amount of effort needed to keep their jobs. Abdullah doesn't like trucking. It is dangerous work with long hours and long journeys away from home. He expresses pride, however, saying truckers do important work in Pakistan's economy.

Arieb Azhar is a Sufi musician and poet playing numerous gigs and working on his next album. His meeting with a Sufi mystic in the film to discuss philosophy is a glimpse into an earlier age of Islam when Sufism played a more dominant role in the spread of Islamic civilization. Sufism, a less rigid and more mystic branch of Islam, has come under attack from militant Islamic groups in recent years. Arieb and his spiritual guide gives us a glimpse into this branch of Islam.

This film gives the viewer a look at some aspects of life in Pakistan that one doesn't usually see in popular culture, like Imran Kahn in a power boat shooting water fowl on a huge lake, a woman journalist, Laiba Yousafzai, braving dangerous conditions to report news stories, Vaneeza Ahmad, building her own clothing line and a TV fashion channel, serving as a role model for Pakistani women in business.

The most emotional interview in the film is with Mohammed Ibrahim, a student, activist and former fighter with a militant group affiliated with the Taliban. Ibrahim recounts the murder of captives by his group as the act which eventually caused him to leave them. He is clearly haunted by his memories of his time as a militant and says he thinks about suicide at times. At other times, he jokes and laughs, and tells stories about great works of art and crafts in buildings that are now left to decay.

This is a film that makes Americans uncomfortable. It shows an American flag being burned. It shows a lot of people cursing the former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf specifically for his ties to America. Imran Khan is an opponent of American drone strikes in Pakistan and would outlaw them. There is a good deal of anti-American sentiment in this film.

At a political rally, Imran asks the crowd “What is the meaning of Pakistan?” The reply is “There is no God but God” (Lah ilaha illla Allah, or There is no god but God, Muhammad is the messenger of God). Imran says that is “The slogan of human freedom.” If you ask an American what is the meaning of America is, God will probably figure into the answer for some, but the answer for most is going to be complex and it will embrace a lot more than one simple slogan, including personal, political and religious freedom.

If your nation is ruled by one religion, sooner or later the people who don't believe in that religion are going to be made to suffer. The kind of unity between the state and one particular religion expressed by the crowd in this film is what makes many people who don't share that particular religious belief very nervous. This film rates a C+.

Click here for links to places to buy or rent this movie in digital formats, or to buy the soundtrack, posters, books, even used videos, games, electronics and lots of other stuff. I suggest you shop at least two of these places before buying anything. Prices seem to vary continuously. For more information on this film, click on this link to The Internet Movie Database. Type in the name of the movie in the search box and press enter. You will be able to find background information on the film, the actors, and links to much more information.

Copyright © 2015 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
Reproduced with the permission of the copyright holder.

Robert Roten can be reached via e-mail at .