A review on Pakistani Drama feature length film, Bol (2011) aka Speak. The Production House is Shoman productions while its Distributors are Geo Films and Eros International Ltd.
+ Crew
- Directed, Written, Music & Produced by Shoaib Mansoor
- Cinematography by Salman Razzaq
- Production Design & Wardrobe by Fatima Jilani
- Edited by Armughan Hassan
- Makeup & Hair styling by Ather Shezad
+Note
Bol’s OST by Baqir Abbas while its music contributions by Atif Aslam, Sajjad Ali, Ahmed Jahanzeb and Hadiqa Kiyani. It is a debut film of Mahira Khan.
This film was a critical and commercial success, and became one of the highest-grossing Pakistani films of all time. Bol concerns a religious Muslim family facing financial difficulties caused by too many children and changing times, with a major plot involving the father’s desire to have a son and his rejection of his existing transgender male-assigned-at-birth daughter. The objective of the project was to advocate for women’s rights by bringing the focus of media and the elite of Pakistan to family planning and gender issues.
Bol is set in Lahore and many students from National College of Arts’ (NCA) film making department assisted Shoaib Mansoor on it. It was awarded the best Hindi film award in IRDS Film awards 2011 by the Institute for Research and Documentation in Social Sciences (IRDS), a Lucknow-based civil society organization for raising many social issues including the regressive attitude of a male-dominated society.
+ Main Cast
- Humaima Malik as Zainub
- Manzar Sehbai as Hakim Sahib
- Shafqat Cheema as Ishaq “Saqa” Kanjar
- Amr Kashmiri as Saifi
- Atif Aslam as Mustafa
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+ Supportive Cast
- Mahira Khan as Ayesha
- Zaib Rehman as Suraiya
- Iman Ali as Sabina
- Irfan Khoosat as Mustafa’s father
- Meher Sagar as Young Saifi
+ Plot
A female convict on death row, her last wish is to tell her story to the media.
+ High Points
i – Humaima Malik’s performance is really good in playing as extrovert character. She showed everyone, how well she could play a lead role.
ii – Manzar Sehbai did a terrific job in the role as abusive father and husband. His inclusion in this film Bol made even further interesting to watch. Other Honorable Mentions: Shafqat Cheema and Atif Aslam.
iii – The multiples issues that are shown in the film are important problems that are either too sensitive or taboo to discuss about which are covered by some misguided religious molvis and scholars.
iv – The cinematography is quite effectively shoot, especially the different angle shots that are taken in creative manner of the city of Lahore.
v – Its interesting story made the viewer’s highly motivated to watch it till the end.
+ Low Points
i – Too many issues were highlighted in the film where unable to focus one subject matter strongly nor in detail.
ii – It’s funny to see how easily Ayesha is roaming around, going places with Mustafa… even if she is in burkha, the neighborhood is not stupid or blind to see who is it anyway or why don’t anyone complains to their father of it?
+ Overall
The presence of Shaqat Cheema kicks this interesting movie into faster gear where the audience & critics alike consider Bol as one of the most significant films that have been ever produced by our Pakistani film industry.
Rate: 4.0 out of 5 stars
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