Bol is gutsy and gripping

Bol
U; Drama
Director: Shoaib Mansoor
Cast: Atif Aslam, Iman Ali, Mahira Khan, Humaima Malick, Shafqat Cheema, Manzar Sehbai, Zaib Rehman, Amr Kashmiri
Rating: ' ' '

Shoaib Mansoor's earlier film Khuda Kay Liye was delightful, so the expectations from Bol were high. And, I think, he largelyu00a0lives up to it.

The film starts dramatically with Zainab (Humaima Malick) -- eldest daughter of Hakeem Sahib (Manzar Sehba) --u00a0set to be hanged. Her last wish is to tell her story to the media. And thus begins the saga.

Hakeem Sahib is an extremely stubborn, orthodox man who hides behind religion to control his wife and brood of kids. He believes that it is a man's duty to continue producing kids, as they are special gift from Allah himself. He sires 14 children out of which seven daughters and one son survive. The son Saifi (Amir Kashmiri), much to Hakim Sahib's horror, turns out to be a eunuch and Hakeem Sahib hates him the most. Hakeem Sahib's wife and kids are virtual prisoners in their house. While the girls are allowed to go to school till only the fifth grade, Saifi is not allowed to venture outside the house. Their only distraction is a family in the neighbourhood.

One of the daughters, Ayesha (Mahira Khan), is in love with the neighbour's son (Atif Aslam) and both the families keep it a secret from Hakim Sahib. Only Zainab has the nerve to stand up to her father's atrocities and he hates her for that. She keeps questioning him about certain pertinent issues, one of which is, if it is a crime to kill somebody, why is it not a crime to produce children whom one cannot provide for?

Hakim Sahib kills Saifi, when the embarrassment of being his father is too much for him to handle, and as a result ends up in a big soup. The police demand a big bribe to cover his crime and now Hakim Sahib has to do things that he wouldn't otherwise even dream of. He goes to a brothel keeper's (Shafqat Cheema) house to teach kids the Quran, and later ends up marrying his grand daughter Meena (Iman Ali) to sire a girl child for the brothel. Things take an ugly turn once the girl child comes along and Hakim Sahib has a change of mind.

A story with hard-hitting messages told in an unabashed manner, Bol tries breaking a lot of shackles. There is a scene where Zainab tells her sisters to 'throw away their hijaabs and live a normal life'. It must be one of the boldest statements made in a film. Perfect casting and almost flawless direction adds to the charm of this gritty film. The direction is so superb that one feels the angst and helplessness of the family, even though it is a family based in Lahore and the situation is probably far removed from one's own upbringing.

There are some minor hitches though. It is half an hour too long and tackles too many issues together.u00a0 And even though they keep talking about seven surviving daughters, you only see five of them. But positives more than override the minor negatives. Bol makes you think, even long after you have finished watching the film. Something not that many films can boast of.