Regardless of what else is happening, one would like to begin the column this time with the documentary film called "Dinner With the President" which was screened on the Geo TV last week and which was also reviewed subsequently.
Should I state at the very outset that while I was keen to see it, as soon as the hype for it began surfacing, I was disappointed at its thematic content. Except for the fact that it had President General Pervez Musharraf (Retired) as its focal point, and it was an elaboration of his concept of "enlightened moderation", the film offered only a somewhat biased overview of some of Pakistan's troubles, challenges, frustrations.
Made by Sabiha Sumar and Dr Sathananan, the name of the film is the sort that raises expectations and makes one imagine that there would be something more interesting, personal, and dramatic. (This is not what happens in reality). Apart from the dramatic situation (external and internal) that Pakistan has been thrown into, the documentary was a steady, if not stereotyped, narrative of what has been happening in the country on the political front in the last few years. And in all this the documentary seeks to convey that it was Musharraf alone who was steering the country, at the behest of the United States post 9/11.
Shown more than once, it is almost certain that the target audience of this grim documentary is not the Pakistani viewer. He would find it very prejudiced and presenting a pro-Musharraf stance. The dinner aspect is only there for mild cinematic touches, and by the way one wondered what was the menu on the dining table that night? One gets the impression that this documentary was made for presenting the case for President Musharraf to foreign audiences -and making them believe that it is only he, a military dictator, who can bring democracy to Pakistan.
While one does wonder why at all such a documentary was made, it will be interesting to see this film some time later (depends how much later) in view of the changes that appear to be in the pipeline. The film was discussed on the same channel in a discussion compared by Dr Moeed Pirzada and in which the participants were Sabiha Sumar, Dr Sathananan, critic Tania Mirza, and Hussain Naqvi, from the academic world. It was significant that Hussain Naqvi said the future of Pakistan should not be linked or confused with the future of President Musharraf. It is relevant to mention here that given the many problems that Pakistan is faced with today, both these points have been among the many that are agitating the minds of people in the country for quite some time.
Film maker Sabiha Sumar contended that the people she spoke to wanted the President to stay in office, and one of the young people she recorded said something to the effect that only President Musharraf could be America's friend and that was the way to save Pakistan. The documentary says that it is a portrayal of a "nation's journey", while what it does, perhaps, is to provide us a fleeting glimpse of a context, and is therefore partial in its story telling.

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Is Pakistan a failed state? Is corruption in Pakistan going up, and is governance in the country sliding down, and taking us to new depths? Have the February 2008 elections brought in a sustainable, meaningful, change for the good of the people? Is Pakistan getting isolated? And is the NWFP, in particular Peshawar, heading for still more trouble, and will it trickle down to the southern parts of the country? Many questions. Never ending questions as we hear more and more panel discussions, some of them arguing for the NRO, and some against. Is there a real national reconciliation taking place, and is the increasingly powerful, popular media playing its due role (ask some TV anchors)? Will prices ever become stable? And will the Pakistani consumer ever find the prices of food items affordable? Is poverty under control?
These are some of the themes that are being discussed and of course while there is the continuing focus on the theory that President Pervez Musharraf is behind many of the obstructions in the revival of democracy.
On Wednesday was released the 2008 Global Corruption report of the Transparency International which among other things said that " President Pervez Musharraf has converted army granted farmland worth US $690,000 in Islamabad into US $10.34 million assets?".
The report further said that corruption in Pakistan increased by 10-0 percent in the last three years, and that "the scale of the inroads made by the military into the civilian sectors of Pakistan's economy, including land construction, property manufacturing fertilizers, agriculture, road building trucking etc and that full generals enjoy individual wealth in excess of US $8.3 million" The question is whether the Pakistan government will respond to this TI report 2008, and take the media into confidence?
CHILDREN AND SUMMERTIME TV: One assumes that with summer holidays on, school children in particular are spending a lot more time watching television, and homes with one TV set are under pressure therefore. Who takes control of the remote control? Homes with one TV set or more? It would be interesting to know what sort of family profiles they present.
I was watching an eight-year schoolgirl enjoying her favourite programmes on the POGO channel, which I noticed also, had shows in Urdu. But the one that she was enjoying most one afternoon was one that featured a comical character called Mr Bean. I felt ignorant at not knowing how much she knew about him, even though she understood not a word of English. The expressions of her face were delightful as she remained in a trance watching an entertainment channel that I too would want to stay tuned to, if it wasn't for this tireless desire of mine to know what is happening in the chaotic world of our national affairs.
VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN: The harassment, the humiliation and the growing crimes against women are a subject that is not only under sustained, concerned focus in society, but it is also being reflected in the media as well. The TV channels are focusing on the subject, and are trying their level best to look into the causes of the targeting of women.
There are panel discussions on this theme, and there are now being shown on various TV channels the details of various instances where women, married or not, have been victimized and where the system and where society have been unable to provide justice.
Interestingly, if on the one hand there is the woman theme that is used to lend, enhance, and exaggerate the glamour, and use the female image to market products and services, on the other hand there is the very same woman theme that is the subject of growing domestic violence and sexual harassment. Media and women and society --- themes that are intertwined and in many ways mirror the stress and torment of our times.
I am referring here to a TV programme that I saw earlier this month (Ist June) in the weekly Benaqab series (Aaj TV) and which not only was very depressing and infuriating anger on the one hand, it was also towards the end, a very shocking and educative experience.
This episode of the programme, which has sought to expose the grim, grave and even frightening realities of Pakistani society, and mainly the urban areas, had three sub themes. Three incidents, reflecting once again the insecurity, the vulnerability of women in this society, and the inability of society to rise to the challenge.
Let us look at the three different aspects that producer Ali Hashmi picked up, and worked around a script by Nasir Tufail, which despite relying on cliches was able to evoke emotional responses in the viewers. I was upset, to say the least. The first incident was about a young married woman allegedly murdered by someone of her in-laws, with the husband claiming complete innocence in the crime.
The second was an incident in which a husband tortured his wife, broke one of her legs, shaved off her head and eyebrows, and had the men in his family actually helping him in the shameful incident. The third was about the use of camera equipped mobile phones, which are now being used by scheming young men, to take photographs of unsuspecting women, and then those clips of videos and still photographs are used as blackmail weapons.
In the first incident there is a close look at the brutal murder of a young university educated woman, in Karachi, who had been married, supposedly happily for four years. Details indicate that this had been done by her husband's elder brother, and from the accounts provided by various members of the girl's family all fingers point in one direction - the husband's brother.
There are also indications that the body of the woman was not only subjected to torture, but also that it was smashed. There are complaints that the area police has not done a professional job, and the noted lawyer Zia Awan is shown advising the public (the viewers) that if they do not trust the Investigating Officer, they should always write to the DIG police or the Town Police Officer to have him changed.
The overall impact of this incident was one of shock ---- and made one contemplate at the patterns of violent crimes against women that are surfacing. In this case no arrest was made, is what the documentary reports.
It was a similar sort of feeling that one had on viewing the second episode, In this a husband, from the lower middle class or lower class suspects his wife or is rather sure that she is unfaithful to him, and he beats her up, breaks her leg and tortures her as well.
Two men from his family help him in the crime. The husband accepts what he had done, and is shown saying that he did it as she was continuously betraying him. He even names three of the men his wife had relationships with from time to time, and that she ran away with one of them. He said that he did not divorce her because of the children.
He denied that he was drunk when he committed the crime, but the narrator in the documentary said that he was drunk at the time of the incident. In this case the husband was shown as being arrested. The lingering question was what would happen to the woman who lost a leg and went through humiliation and torture in brutal violence at home.
The last part of the documentary raises some very pertinent questions about the use of the camera equipped cell phone which is being used by men to blackmail women. This is being done in a variety of ways, and clips are also being circulated on the Internet.
The Benaqab documentary revealed that boys were misusing the cameras on their cell phones, and that the Aaj TV had had evidence of such men, This time the men are being warned to stop their blackmailing or else their faces would be shown on the TV, said the narrator.
SANTOSH KUMAR REMEMBERED: It was a walk down memory lane to see a well made short film report on the film actor Santosh Kumar who reigned supreme on the silver screen, in the fifties and the sixties in particular. Santosh Kumar (Syed Musa Raza) in real life and his wife Sabiha Khanum were also a very popular couple on the TV screen also.
It would be understandable to know that the younger lost of TV viewers are totally unaware of the towering stature of Santosh Kumar, who was also a thorough gentleman in real life, and deeply respected and admired for his soft-spoken and graceful personality. And it was that mildness of nature which enhanced the emotional impact of the intensity with which he romanced on the screen, with the best and most popular leading ladies of his time. Some excerpts of his films were also shown to add to the value.
This film report (Waqt TV) paid tributes to Santosh Kumar and carried short comments from those who had known him in real life, including the actor Habib, another popular name from the world of Pakistani film heroes of yesteryears. Then there was the film heroine Sabiha Sultana, who appears to have acquired grace with time, who recalled fond memories of the days when Santosh Kumar was around.
He died on 11th June, 1982, and now 26 years later, it is obvious how Pakistan has changed, declined, and dwindled. Watching this report on Santosh Kumar a thought crossed the mind. How much Pakistan has changed in the last five decades plus. And that it is a good sign that the electronic media is paying tributes to the film stars of yesterday -and ironically the film industry in the country is struggling to survive, and the cinemas still seeking the exhibition of Indian films to survive.
-- Dilip Kumar, Nargis,
-- Raj Kapoor in Andaz
For a while on Thursday, channel surfing for the latest news on the day of the by elections, (26th June) around noon, in a context of exceptionally low voter turn out, I stopped for a while to see almost the last 45 minutes of that emotionally powerful love story Andaz, which starred Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Raj Kapoor. The channel: B4U movies. They played that absorbing, consuming love triangle to perfection.
Andaz, in black and white and made over 50 years ago, has been screened on the TV channels over and over again, and retains its appeal for viewers, especially the older viewers. Many of us have seen this film many more times than once, and even when the scenes seem familiar, the repeat value of this cinematic experience even on small screen, does not diminish in any way, the enduring appeal of it all. And for the fans of Dilip Kumar, Nargis and Raj Kapoor, it is yet another spell binding, magical experience. Movies like these can bring out the inherent richness of nostalgia? (nusratnasarullah0@hotmail.com)