Movie: Doctor

Actors:
Director: Shandana Minhas and Maheen Zia, Producer: Arif Abrar



There are many reasons to applaud 'Doctor,' a short film directed by Shandana Minhas and Maheen Zia and produced by Arif Abrar of Beanistan Films, an independent film company in Karachi. The movie addresses a tragic social wound - the targeted terror killings of doctors in Karachi over the last few years - and delivers its message like a kick in the stomach. At every level - story, screenplay, acting, sound, camera work - the film is an aesthetic success. It all speaks well of independent cinema come alive in Karachi.

Doctor is tastefully done; the visual flavor is of an Indian art house production. If someone had told me this was Mira Nair or Deepa Mehta`s work, I would not have found reason to doubt it. The camera angles and lighting reflect an impressive professional flair. The acting is straightforward, unadorned, and utterly convincing. The imagery brings to life the Karachi - hardened, weary, battle-scarred, but undefeated - that we all know and love. Some of the footage is quietly fetching and will be etched on your mind for a long time. Look out for the Teen Talwar monument framed by Eucalyptus branches under an overcast sky, or the tennis-ball cricket bat that is a staple of every middle-class Karachi household, or the bottle of Langnese honey on the breakfast table that is invoked in a strained mother-daughter dialogue.

The real success of the movie is in saying things by not saying them. To belong to a profession whose members are being senselessly killed is an experience bordering on torture; while this was happening, panic had rippled through Karachi`s normally thriving medical community. The movie speaks not a word about it, yet the anguish comes through like a clarion call. The sensibility is at once stoic and graceful. Doctor fully understands it is grappling with an issue where silences are deafening and what is left unsaid speaks volumes. If cinema is meant to challenge both the senses and the intellect, Doctor qualifies as a clear success. Perhaps equally remarkable is what the production says about the rise of the cinematic arts in Karachi. Politics, economics and all the rest of it are all very well, but one can`t help feeling it is ultimately freely expressed art in all its forms that will come to define our sensibility as a nation and as a people.


the world premiere of Doctor is on Sunday, December 21st 2003 at the Karachi Film Festival. Please visit www.karafilmfest.com for ticket info and details.