''Khamosh Pani'' (

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a British Th ...

: ( Shahmukhi), ਖ਼ਾਮੋਸ਼ ਪਾਨੀ ( Gurmukhi); ''Silent Waters'') is a 2003 Indo- Pakistani film about a widowed mother and her young son living in a Punjabi village as it undergoes radical changes during the late 1970s. Shot in a Pakistani village, the film was also released in India. It won seven awards, including Golden Leopard (Best Film), Best Actress, and Best Direction at the 56th Locarno International Film Festival,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

.Swiss honour Pakistani movie
BBC News, Published 18 August 2003, Retrieved 11 March 2021

Plot

In 1979 in Charkhi,On location shooting actually done in Wah village, Hasan Abdal,

Rawalpindi Rawalpindi ( or ; Urdu, ) is a city in the Punjab province of Pakistan. It is the fourth largest city in Pakistan after Karachi, Lahore and Faisalabad, and third largest in Punjab after Lahore and Faisalabad. Rawalpindi is next to Pakistan's ...

, Northern Punjab. See a village in the Punjab province of Pakistan, Ayesha (a middle-aged widow) lives with her son Saleem, a teenager in love with schoolgirl Zubeida. Ayesha supports herself and Saleem with her late husband's pension and by giving lessons in the Qur'an to village girls. She refuses to go to the village well, and her neighbor's daughters draw water for her. Villagers like Amin, the postman, are troubled by the recent hanging of former prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto by Zia-ul-Haq, the new military ruler who has promised to enforce Islamic law and encourages Islamic missionary and political groups. Two Islamic activists come to the village and, supported by the village

choudhury Chowdhury is a title of honour, usually hereditary, originating from the Indian subcontinent. It is an adaption from Sanskrit. During the Mughal rule, it was a title awarded to eminent people, while during British rule, the term was associated ...

, spread their message of Islamic zealotry and gain recruits to fight the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The older men in the village are disdainful of their intolerance and puritanism, cynical about Zia's postponement of elections and angry when the activists accuse them of being traitors. The activists gain a following amongst the village youth, including Saleem. They cajole and intimidate Saleem into attending a political meeting in

, where the speakers exhort the audience to commit themselves to

jihad Jihad (; ar, جهاد, jihād ) is an Arabic word which literally means "striving" or "struggling", especially with a praiseworthy aim. In an Islamic context, it can refer to almost any effort to make personal and social life conform with Go ...

for the creation of an Islamic Pakistani state. Attracted by their zeal and call to serve Islam and Pakistan, Saleem (who wants to be more than a village farmer) breaks up with Zubeida and becomes estranged from his mother. Ayesha unsuccessfully tries to discourage him from following the Islamists. Saleem helps build a wall around the girls' school to "protect" them and enforces the closing of village shops during

namaaz (, plural , romanized: or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːh, ( or Old Arabic ͡sˤaˈloːtʰin construct state) ), also known as ( fa, نماز) and also spelled , are prayers performed by Muslims. Facing the , the direction of the Kaaba with ...

in line with

Zia-ul-Haq's Islamisation Sharization or Islamization ( ur, اسلامی حکمرانی) has a long history in Pakistan since the 1950s, but it became the primary policy, or "centerpiece" of the government of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the ruler of Pakistan from 1977 ...

, and Ayesha and Zubeida are alarmed by his transformation. After an agreement between the Indian and Pakistani governments, a group of

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

pilgrims from India, arrives in Pakistan to visit Sikh shrines. They come to Charkhi, the village they were forced to flee during the bloody

partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947. A pilgrim wants to look for his sister, who he believes survived the violence. The visitors have a mixed reception: a warm welcome from the village barber and hostility from the growing number of young Muslim zealots. Saleem is embarrassed that his mother sent food to the pilgrims and teaches the village girls that non-Muslims can go to heaven. The pilgrim asks some villagers, including Amin, if they knew if a Sikh woman survived the riots. They say they do not know, but Amin later visits the pilgrim's hut and tells him to look for the woman who never goes to the well. Following the girls who bring water to her house, the pilgrim finds Ayesha. When he asks her if she knows a Sikh woman who survived the riots, she anxiously tells him to leave. Saleem sees the pilgrim talking to his mother, and hears him call her "Veero" and tell her that her father wanted to see her before he died. Saleem is shocked to learn that Ayesha was Veero, a Sikh; in a flashback, she was amongst a group of village Sikh women lined up to jump into the village well rather than be raped by a Muslim mob in 1947. The Sikh men (including her father) want her to jump, but Veero runs away and is later caught, raped and imprisoned. Her rapist, remorseful, offers to marry her and she begins life as a Muslim. Saleem reports this to his friends, who demand that Ayesha make a public declaration of her Islamic faith; she refuses and is shunned by the villagers, including her best friends. For the first time in over thirty years, she must fetch her own water. Ayesha meets her Sikh brother at the well but refuses to accompany him, condemning her father for encouraging her to commit suicide and asking how he would feel knowing that she was living as a Muslim. Her isolation increases, with only Zubeida keeping in touch with her. Realizing that she cannot escape her past, Ayesha jumps into the well. Saleem buries her, gathers her papers and belongings and throws them into the river. In 2002 in Rawalpindi, Zubeida remembers Ayesha. In the street she sees a bearded Saleem, secretary-general of an Islamist organisation, answering questions about the compatibility of Islamic law with democracy.

Cast

Kirron Kher Kirron Anupam Kher (also Kiran ''Indian Express'', 12 May 2002. or, Kiron born 14 June 1952) is an Indian people, Indian politician; theatre, film and television actress; television personality; singer; entertainment producer; and a member of t ...

as Ayesha *

Aamir Ali Malik Aamir Ali Malik, known as Aamir Ali, is an Indian actor and model. Career and personal life Ali's first commercial break was a commercial for Bajaj Scooters. He appeared in advertising campaigns for Bajaj Bravo Scooter, Aptech Computers, Ma ...

as Saleem * Arshad Mehmood as Mehboob * Salman Shahid as Amin *

Shilpa Shukla Shilpa Shukla (born 22 February 1982) is an Indian film and theatre actress. She is known for her roles in the 2007 sports drama '' Chak De! India'' and the 2013 neo-noir film '' B.A. Pass'', for which she was awarded the Filmfare Critics Awar ...

as Zubeida * Sarfaraz Ansari as Rashid * Abid Ali as Chaudhary *

Adnan Shah Adnan Shah, well known as Adnan Shah Tipu or simply Tipu is a Pakistani actor known for his comic and villainary roles. Career Adnan Shah started his career in 1999 as a television actor and gained popularity through a sitcom titled "Sub Set Hai" ...

as Mazhar *

Khursheed Shahid Begum Khursheed Shahid (1 January 1926 – 27 June 2021) was a Pakistani actress and singer. She was also the mother of actor Salman Shahid. Early life Khursheed Shahid was born in 1926 in Delhi, where her father was a government official a ...

as Singer *

Fareeha Jabeen Fareeha Jabeen ( Punjabi, ) also spelled as Fariha Jabeen is a Pakistani actress. She used to appear in PTV Home's classic serials in 1990's. She has also appeared in few Urdu films. She has played a role of Nagina Chachi in Hum TV's acclaim ser ...

as Shabnam * Shazim Ashraf as Zubair * Rehan Sheikh as Afshan * Barkat Ullah as Mubarak Bhai * Nisar Qadri as Haji Munnavar * Saba Malik as Courtesan *

Madan Gopal Singh Madan Gopal Singh (b 1950, Amritsar) is an Indian composer, singer, lyricist, actor, screenwriter, film theorist, editor and polyglot. He is currently Senior Fellow at the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi while on leave from Satyaw ...

as Sikh Pilgram * Gurjot Singh Mann as Sikh Pilgram * Suhair Fariha Khan as Veero

Production

The role of Ayesha Khan was earlier offered to veteran Pakistani actress

Bushra Ansari Bushra Iqbal Ansari is a Pakistani actress, comedian, singer and playwright who started her career as a child performer in the 1950s. Ansari won numerous awards during her career, including the Presidential Pride of Performance Award in 1989 fo ...

who rejected it due to her personal reasons.

Awards

* 2003: Won Top Prize at Locarno International Film FestivalPakistani film wins top prize in Switzerland
Dawn (newspaper), Published 17 August 2003, Retrieved 11 March 2021 ** Best Actress: ''

'' ** Don Quixote Award - Special Mention: Sabiha Sumar ** Golden Leopard (Best Film): Sabiha Sumar ** Prize of the Ecumenical Jury: Sabiha Sumar ** Youth Jury Award - Special Mention: Sabiha Sumar * 2003:

Nantes Three Continents Festival The Festival des 3 Continents is an annual film festival held since 1979 in Nantes, France, and is devoted to the cinemas of Asia, and Africa and Latin America. It was founded by Philippe and Alain Jalladeau.Karachi International Film Festival The Karachi International Film Festival, simply known as the Kara Film Festival (Urdu: ''کارا فلم فیسٹیول'' or ''کارا فلم'') was founded in 2001 by the KaraFilm Society, reportedly in response to the declining state of th ...

** Special Jurors' Selection Ciepie ** Best Actress in a Leading Role:

** Best Screenplay: Paromita Vohra * 2005: Lux Style Awards ** Best Film

References

External links