“Sirf Maarna jurm
kyun hai, paida karna kyun nahi” is a quote that defines the 2010 release
Pakistaani movie named ‘Bol’. It raises the question why is giving birth not a
crime just as killing is? Bol has been one revolutionizing blockbuster movie
which broke box office records for its sensational themes. Bol has gained such
fame as it tackles major issues such as Women’s freedom, homosexuality,
rationalism and prostitution and brings light upon family planning and gender
issues.
The film stars
Humaima malik as protagonist, supported by Mahira Khan, Atif Aslam and Iman
Ali. It is written by Shohaib Mansoor. Directed by Saqlain Nawaz, this
Pakistaani movie is quite unique. The story line moves around a family with 9
family members. Father, mother and seven girls live in house in Lahore. The
movie touches upon the common issues faced my families, such as poverty, rasing
many children and also increasing number of girls.
The father of the
family is a Hakim – a traditional doctor. He has always had a longing for a boy
but he has been unfortunately been blesses with girls. In his quest the mother
has been withered. She has given birth to dead kids also. After a long time a
boy comes along, however the ‘daai’ informs the Hakim that the child is
transgender. Having thought about the consequence of this incident in his
society, the Hakim decides to kill the kid. However his wife prevents him from
doing so. The child is named ‘Saifullah’ urf ‘Saifi’ by the mother and the
sisters.
As time passes by
Hakim continues trying for a son. The result is more dead kids and detoriating
condition of the mother. Seeing this, the eldest daughter of the house Zainub
takes a stand and gets her mother sterilized. When the Hakim finds out about
this, he has a heated argument with Zainub. This scene brings in many religious
questions. The Hakim claims that the prophet Muhammad (SAW) had suggested that
the coming generation of his followers should be very big. Zainub retorts back
that the prophet would never say such a thing; he must have meant that his
followers should be big in their thoughts, ideologies, hopes and faith.
This in the movie
is the first instance of a women taking a big step and excising her freedom.
Seeing the bigger picture, Zainub has always been the most rebel lient one. At
the end she suffered the tragic consequence of her boldness. However, it was
her courage that brought the issue of her issue of her house to a wide platform
to be sorted. And it was for her that her family gained freedom from her
treacherous father.
Saifullah was a
strong depiction of homosexuality, its nature and innocence. As a kid he was
harassed by a school teacher at home. Saifullah grew up as a playful boy and
with him grew his fantasies. Once he
dressed up in his sister’s dress and applied make up and droned a veil just to
see how he looks. When he was caught and beaten by his sisters he said that he
was a girl because he felt like he wanted to do such things, that he wished he
could get married to his neighbor’s son Mustafa. He seems absolutely innocent
and chaste in this matter as he is only guided by his instincts. Later in the
movie he is punished for this nature of his. Saifullah’s family sent him out to
work as he was an excellent painter. When he stepped out, Saifullah was
harassed for his delicate and beautiful looks. He was also raped. When he
returned home, his family wept on the incident and when the father found out,
he killed Saifullah by choking him with a plastic bag as he feared the insults
he would receive from the society.
The father of the
family is a very stereotypical and shrewd person. He is an image of a
patriarchal head which is so prevalent is our society. He always wished for
son, and he conviently killed the one he received. He had made his family
members prisons within the house. He makes them pray for irrational things like
making Pakistan win the cricket match. He is the kind of person who bended the
rules when it suited him. He never agreed to the rationality which was
regularly pushed into his view by his daughter Zainub. When he killed his son, he used up the money
of Masjid Charity to escape murder charges from the police.
To replace the money, he started working as an
Arabic teacher of a lower caste Muslim family who ran a brothel. Slowly he moved
into the ill aspect of it. When he asked the owner of the brothel – Saqa - for
money, he suggested that this Hakim sleep with his daughter Meena – a
prostitute- to give his business a baby girl who would work as a prostitute
when she grows up. Hakim, under the dept
of the money he had stolen agrees to do so. He gets married to Meena and grants
her a daughter, however on realizing the fate of this daughter of his, his own
bloods, he pleads Meena to give him his daughter. It’s ironic that he accepts a
prostitute for his wife but doesn’t desire the same future for his daughter.
After a few days Meena
comes to Hakim’s house in disguise to leave her daughter at his house. When the
family finds out the truth, each one is agitated especially the mother and
Zainub. Zainub tells the Hakim that tell would leave the house next morning.
Meanwhile, Saqa comes to take his grand-daughter back. Waching him arrive, the
Hakim tries to kill suffocate the baby to death with a pillow. In defense
Zainub hits her father on the head and accidentally kills him. She tells one of
her sister to take the baby girl away. When Saqa comes in, she tells him that the
hakim killed the child and threw it away, and she killed her father. This is
their moment of liberty as well as bondage for the family.
Another
simultaneous story that adds more relevance to the movie is the neighbor’s son
Mustafa and Hakim’s second daughter Ayesha’s love story. They both are good
singers and guitarists. Ayesha frequently sneaks out with Mustafa to tour
Lahore and to perform on stage. They both are in love and wish to get married,
however the Hakim is a foe of his neighbor and refuses the proposal from him.
When he fixes Aysha’s marriage with an elderly person, Zainub and other family
members get her hitched to Mustafa secretly. When Hakim finds out he gets
really angry and curses Zainub. The love story completes to give way to another
triumph. A women’s will to choose her husband is executed here.
The movie
actually is in retrospect as Zainub in the beginning of the movies states her
story to the media while she is about to be hanged for killing her father.
Zainub is the revolutionist who brings the change in her family’s situation.
She urges her sisters to leave their veil and live their lives. She asks them
to live guilt free and independent. After her death, the family follows
Zainub’s advice and open up a restaurant named ‘Zainub’s café’ which becomes a
huge success.
All in all, the
movie tries to provoke the audience to eradicate all evils of the society. It
promotes women’s freedom, family planning and acceptance of homosexuality in
our society. The movie is a strong
symbol of freedom of expression of women. It questions the absence of her
rights and it questions objections towards her existence. Bol also
discriminates a man’s right to give birth to children who he cannot care for.
And it certainly questions his sense of justice. Bol has been a dynamic movie
exploring the condition of women in our society.
