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Some time back Ashvin Kumar has made an Oscar-nominated short film ‘Little Terrorist’ about a Pakistani kid who wanders over to the Indian side and is protected by a Hindu family. Mehreen Jabbar’s film ‘Ramchand Pakistani’ takes up a somewhat similar idea and expands on it. What’s remarkable about the film is its absence of jingoism. An Indian film ‘Deewar - Let’s Bring The Heroes Home’, about Indian prisoners of War in across the border, painted the Pakistanis as absolute monsters. Deepa Gahlot | MSN India |
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Cross border problems is the basic theme of first time Pakistani director Mehreen Jabbar’s “Ramchand Pakistani”. Since partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought three wars, excluding the Kargil conflict. Six decades after partition, the common man continues to pay a heavy price for the tension between the two countries. There are several cases of innocent people from India and Pakistan who are caught and sent to jail on mere suspicion. Arpana | Nowrunning |
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At the very least, Ramchand Pakistani is humane. Its heart is in the right place, touching upon a valid issue instead of just going helter-skelter in Fantasyland. At the core of the story, there’s a Pakistani dalit boy (Hussain), who’s in a fit of pique crosses the border. Inadvertently, his simpleton father (Farooqi) follows him, and the two are incarcerated in an Indian prison for five years.
Khalid Mohamed | Hindustan Times |
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Most Pakistani films are synonymous with loud acting, garish sets and blood-n-gore. But Khuda Kay Liye earlier and Ramchand Pakistani now signify the changing times, the changing outlook, the changing mindset. Ramchand Pakistani is a simple story, a true story in fact, of a kid and his father crossing the LOC and being held captive in an Indian prison.
Taran Adarsh | Bollywood Hungama via Oneindia |
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‘Ramchand Pakistani’,based on a true story, tells it like it is, without embroidery or excess. And that is debutant director Mehreen Jabbar’s film’s real strength. The village in which Ramchand (Syed Fazal Hussain) lives with his father Shankar (Rashid Farooqui) and mother Champa (Nandita) is all mud huts and abject poverty.
Shubhra Gupta | Indian Express |
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After Khuda Kay Liye, comes Ramchand Pakistani. What’s heartening is the fact that this film too tells a compelling story culled from today’s headlines and proves that change is indeed the cornerstone of Pakistani cinema currently. The film deals with the topical issue of cross-border prisoners who are languishing in jails, both in India and Pakistani, often, for no reason at all.
Nikhat Kazmi | Times of India |
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2 responses so far ↓
1 Sumeet Kumar // Oct 5, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I was wondering which movie to go for on thursday when drona n kidnap had released. I read the reviews of kidnap n drona and dropped the idea. Was almost shutting down the net when i just saw Ramchand Pakistani on the movie lists. I had heard that it came from the makers of khuda ke liye(which i had not seen earlier) but heard some real good reviews on that movie. Anyways, I went for Ramchand Pakistani……and guess what….i was so greatful to god that I dint make the wrong decision. Ramchand Pakistani turned out to be one of the best movies I had ever seen. I really would like to thank the makers of this movies for making such a brilliant film. It was just a fantastic experience. A very realistic film. Request to all- Please dont miss this movie. Its definitely worth a watch and will ease the tension between the two nations divded by dirty politics.
2 badal // Oct 6, 2008 at 8:48 am
I agree with Sumeet. The movie is well made and has an amazing story. We all know how brilliant Nandita Das is, but I have to mention great performances by Noman Ijaz and Navaid Jabbar. Director Mehreen Jabbar has proved the artistic finesse.
Ramchand Pakistani makes you forget the differences. It shows how the border doesn’t actually exist, until we imagine it to be there.
Hats off to the crew..
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