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Director’s Statement While Silent Waters is set in times when history and politics are overwhelmingly present, it is about individual lives in the context of that history. It is also about the individual acts that make up this history. It is set in a Pakistan that contains both a timeless way of life and cataclysmic change. The film is the story of people who find ways to make a place home, to make sense of their tragedies, to find happiness and God through love and who sometimes conquer life and are sometimes defeated by it. Silent Waters is the first film of its kind entirely shot in Pakistan. Film culture in Pakistan was virtually eliminated during the Islamisation years under President Zia ul Haq (1977 to 1988). My effort was to cast as many people as possible from around the location where we shot. I worked mainly with inexperienced talent and conducted acting workshops to train my cast. For the main character, I chose an Indian actress, Kirron Kher. When I met her for the first time, I immediately said to myself: “She is Ayesha.” Story-telling is an important part of cultural life. I hope that my work will help to regenerate film culture in Pakistan and contribute to the growth of alternative cinema.
'Silent Waters' is consciously designed to be an issue-based movie. The subject seemed to follow a certain pattern in which women took the center stage in the narrative. Though, there were parallel tracks as well, but it was a perception developed out of simple observation, and not because there was any particular ideology to propound. The film is based on actual events that took place when the Indian sub-continent was partitioned in 1947 into two new states - India and Pakistan. It was a time of intense violence. In pre-partition Punjab, Muslims and Sikhs had lived side-by-side, but during the partition men from both sides of the religious divide slaughtered each other. Each looted the other's property, which included their respective women: little distinction was made between robbing cattle and abducting women. Muslim men abducted Sikh women while Sikh men abducted Muslim women. The women were raped, bought, sold and, sometimes, murdered; some ended up marrying their abductors. This film has a definite Punjabi feel, set on the borders of Pakistan in 1979 - the year that president Zia Ul-Haq introduced Islamic laws into what was meant to be a secular country. Silent Waters is chillingly humane drama that will stay with you for a long time. Credited cast: Kiron Kher .... Veero or Ayesha (as Kirron Kher)
A summary by H.N. Narahari Rao Silent Waters is a film which will definitely generate ripples in the minds of the people in India and Pakistan when they see it. The director Sabiha Sumar very subtly recreates the traumatic experience of partition of the two countries and its aftermath. Saleem becomes a victim of this propaganda and gets totally involved in this fundamentalist movement. He even forgets his lover and rebels against his mother and other moderates and becomes a militant. In one of the satirical jokes a barber in a saloon remarks to his customer: "It is easy to cut the hairs of Zia - because once we say election his hairs stand up and it becomes easy to cut". There is much interesting dialogue like "Your love for Islam does not bring us cheaper onions" which are frequently used even now in both the countries to denounce both types of fundamentalism. In one of the scenes a video show of speeches of the fundamentalists is exhibited. After the speech Zia's photo is shown as though he is the saviour of Islam in Pakistan . Saleem asks what is this ? The answer is :this is is a machine called VCR imported from America.
The revelation creates trauma for all the protagonists . Saleem gets totally disheartened by the fact that he is born to a lady who belonged to a family having no faith in Islam, Ayesha becomes irrevocably disturbed because her identity is revealed and she can not accept the invitation to meet her father in India, she now belongs neither here nor there, the pilgrim Jaswant Singh becomes totally disillusioned when his sister rejects his invitation.
It is understood that the film is finding its way into festivals in India under the title "Kamosh pani". I am sure there will be enough material for critics to write and interpret. But the question is: will it find its way in Pakistan ?
Pakistan’s Silent Waters wins top Swiss film prize Pakistani filmmaker Sabiha Sumar Saturday won the top prize at Switzerland’s principal film festival with her story of a woman whose son becomes an extremist. The Golden Leopard was awarded to “Khamosh Pani” (“Silent Waters”), a study in the relationship between a widow and her son as the young man veers into religious extremism after Pakistan became an Islamic state in 1979.
The jury’s special prize went to Romania’s Calin Netzer for “Maria”, while Serban Ionescu earned the award for best actor for his role in the same film. Bosnia’s Pjer Zalica for “Gali Vatra” (“Fire!”) and Catherine Hardwicke of the US for “Thirteen” shared second prize. The prize for best actress was split between Holly Hunter (“Thirteen”), Diana Dumbrava (“Maria”) and Kirron Kher (“Khamosh Pani”). Nineteen movies from 16 countries were competing this year for the Golden Leopard award at the 56th Locarno film festival. — AFP More films created by Sabiha Sumar |
Saleem, a youth, son of Ayesha falls in love with Zubeida. What starts as a simple love story gradually builds up into a saga of political oppression and religious fanatics. In order to perpetuate his dictatorship General Zia (in the seventies and eighties) created a hate campaign against other religions and India, through promoting Islamic fundamentalist groups in order to divert the attention of the people from holding elections. These groups made provocative speeches. They believe that the lines of partition were drawn in blood by the Islam followers who sacrificed their lives to create Pakistan based on religion and those who do not have faith in Islam have no place in this country.
The dramatic turn the film takes is when a group of Sikh pilgrims from India come to the village Charika to offer their prayers at a Gurudwara which is now in Pakistan territorry. One sikh Jaswant Singh tries to locate his sister Veero who stayed in Pakistan during partition. We are really taken by surprise when we find Ayesha herself happens to be his sister who after staying gets married and becomes a devoted Muslim and even gives lessons in the Holy Koran.
Ayesha is gradually rejected by her own kith and kin and gets isolated. She ends up drowning in a well finding peace in the silent waters. Sleem repents and reconciles. The film is handled very delicately. It is to be remembered that Partition was an episode which took the lives in hundreds and thousands, blood spilled all over the borders. But at no point is explicit violence shown in the film, at the same time it depicts the holocaust of the ghastly events and their effects. The ending is quite interesting . The current events in Pakistan are shown with portraits of Musharaff and the speeches and the same assurances of conducting elections - a repetition of the past - and we ask ourselves: is there an end to it ?
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