To actually see a movie from Pakistan in which actors are talking and not yelling was a pleasant surprise but as the movie progressed it completely blew my mind off for being so real. This movie take its viewer right in to the world of Pakistanis who are either living in Pakistan or residing abroad especially in western world. It realistically portrays life in Pakistan where people are caught between the hardliner religious scholars and carrying the normal activities and pleasures in life. It also shows the dilemma of overseas Pakistanis when they see their children being brought up in a western society. Finally, it painfully shows what has happened to many Pakistanis that have been targeted by western people and law after 9/11. The greatest service that this movie has done is to show the world that how difficult it is right now to be Pakistani and I can't say much more than that.
On the side of acting all the actors did justice to their characters. Shaan (Mansoor) was at his best and I must admit that I never thought that Shaan could deliver such a powerful performance after seeing his mindless Punjabi movies. His acting, while being tortured by law was realistic to a frightening extent. After watching the movie I felt that huge amount of research must have gone on the background as every situation looked near to reality. For example, the way Government Political Agent approached tribal council was very realistic.
Amidst all the painful realities the film does give a ray of hope in the end when Iman Ali (Maryam/Marry) opens a girl's school in tribal area. I guess it was necessary for the artist (Shoaib Mansoor-director) to give hope in the end. Although, sadly speaking that ray of hope is still no way near in sight to Pakistani society as during the last few years, many of the girls schools in northern area of Pakistan have either been bombed or closed down as a result of threats and I am afraid that Maryam school might have been one of them.
