Ahmed Jamal’s debut film Rahm snuck into cinemas last weekend.
The film, an Urdu-language adaptation of Shakespeare’s Measure For Measure, stars Sanam Saeed, Sunil Shanker, Sajid Hasan, Nayyar Ejaz and Seerat Jafri in a story about hypocrisy in corrupt times that also touches on the value of forgiveness.
Sanam stars as a woman in a moral dilemma. She can save the life of her brother accused of adultery, but only if she sleeps with the governor (Sunil) who sentenced him. (Spoilers) Ultimately, both Sanam’s honour and her brother’s life is saved — in a resolution that emphasises that justice isn’t always delivered with punishments, and reconciliation and forgiveness is better than braying for blood.
Despite the presence of prominent actors, the film has been a low-profile release. Still, cinemas were quarter-full on its first weekend, which is an accomplishment considering that the footfall in cinemas has suffered since the ban on Bollywood films.
Also read: Banning Indian films in Pakistan will only bolster piracy, say local cinema owners
But was the audience rewarded for the trip it made to the cinemas? Did the film pass on the lofty message it claims to have done? One isn't so sure.
We do leave the cinema with several questions for the filmmaker, and luckily, we got some answers.
1) For starters, why was this film made?
Rahm is a film that has tried to provoke thought rather than just provide entertainment, and we’re glad to see filmmakers in Pakistan putting their efforts in a venture that isn't just geared towards earning lots of moolah.
But the film didn't necessarily try to woo the audience with stirring performance or powerful dialogue (save a few). So what did the director have in mind when he made the film?
“This year marked 400 years of Shakespeare’s death anniversary, so it was also a timely project to undertake,” Ahmed Jamal begins, explaining the origins of Rahm. “Out of all of Shakespeare’s plays, Measure to Measure is one of the easiest to adapt in its essence into a different setting.”
He believes the task was especially easy given that that Pakistan is similar to Shakespearian era England, with its track record of intolerance.
“The situation in Pakistan, is a lot like in that in the play, in that we give out these harsh punishments,” explains Ahmed, so Measure For Measure’s message should resonate with the local audience."
2) Ok, so what's with the underwhelming acting? We're not sure the audience was awake enough to receive the message.
"My actors had their mics on while shooting, and I've heard someone grumble that 'ye tou documentary style may kararahe hain' (This film is being shot in a documentary style)," confesses Ahmed with a laugh. "But my emphasis was on naturalistic acting."
"This is a film, not TV or theatre, and the cinemas screen is very big and faces are visible up to seven times their size, so actors have to be really subtle with how they express emotion and what their character is going through."
The director added that exaggerated acting is a signature feature of Bollywood, and it should remain that way. It's the reason why other international cinema like Iranian films have a larger audience than Bollywood, he reasons.
3) Moving on, What's so Sufi about Rahm?
Rahm is being touted as a Sufi interpretation of Measure for Measure, and after watching the film, one is still unsure of what that means.
“In Measure For Measure, Sanam’s character is going to become a nun. The count disguises himself as a monk, but in Rahm, he becomes a fakir living in a shrine.”
So there’s the literal transposition of the characters into a more Sufi setting. But the core philosophy of the play and film is also Sufi, Ahmed informs us.
“Many scholars, including the film’s writer Mahmood Jamal, is of the belief that Measure for Measure is one of the most Sufi plays of Shakespeare’s. It has a lot of beautiful lyrical dialogues, like "Some rise by sin, and some by virtue fall." It shows that Shakespeare had this great humanity. And the notion of forgiveness, that there should be no punishment, that’s also present in Sufism. That’s why this is a Sufi play.”
4) Aren't Mercedes and mobile phones a tad out of place in old Lahore in “an imaginary time” when all-powerful governors rule the land? Why not make it more of a period film?
“[Rahm is set in] "an imaginary time" because governors haven't had the power that the character enjoyed in the film, and we placed the film in old Lahore to lend it a little credibility," reasons Ahmed. "We expect our audience to suspend belief to that extent. That is part and parcel of the play. Hopefully they will get that. When we watch Star Wars, which is set in a galaxy far, far away, we don’t ask realistic questions.”
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