Naseeruddin Shah’s latest international venture, the Pakistani film – Khuda Ke Liye— has not only smashed box office records in Pakistan but has also resulted in contradictory reactions from the Pakistani maulvi’s and Pervez Musharraf. The maulvi’s on the one hand started a ‘fatwa’ against the movie, while Pervez Musharraf on the other hand endorsed it. Newsweek did a feature on it. 'Khuda Ke Liye' is being touted as ‘The Movie’ that can revive the Pakistani film industry. When asked about what he felt about the movie industry in Pakistan, Naseeruddin Shah said,“Their film industry is in its infant stage. Their films so far have been B-grade films. But it is a good sign that films like 'Khuda ke Liye' are being made.”�Infancy or not, Naseeruddin Shah feels that Bollywood is hardly a benchmark to be modeled on. Shah was quoted saying that it is not good to aspire to become Bollywood. One Bollywood is more than enough. They should aspire to capture the times in Pakistan and do meaningful cinema rather than producing mindless entertainers. India is already doing that. It is necessary for the Pakistani film industry to find its own identity. The only representative present for the music release of the movie in Mumbai was Naseeruddin Shah, who revealed that the cast of the movie ‘Khuda Ke Liye’ will be in Mumbai in April 2008, when it is slated to be released. He also said,“It is brave of Shan to take up a role like this. Our actors won’t be able do such a role. I admire him for that and his work. With several stunning performances in one movie, it seems that the stage is all set for a drastic change of cinema in Pakistan. ... read more »