Khamosh Pani (2003)

Sabiha Sumar's Silent Waters is an affecting drama, and the timeliness of its heartfelt dissection of the destructiveness of religious extremism helps ameliorate some minor dramatic flaws. In presenting Saleem (Aamir Malik) as petulant and feckless before his religious transformation, the film fails to achieve the moral complexity of Tareque Masud's thematically similar The Clay Bird, which is about the Bangladeshi revolution. By portraying the Islamic fundamentalists and their followers as joyless, scary bullies, the film veers toward the pedantic. Masud was able to portray the societal trauma created by such movements while retaining a sense that the people involved were still complex human beings with their own personal struggles. At least Silent Waters achieves some balance by portraying destructive religious extremism among the Sikhs just as disdainfully. Thanks in no small part to Kiron Kher's wonderfully soulful performance (for which she shared the Bronze Leopard for Best Actress at the 2003 Locarno Film Festival), the film achieves its greatest power as it explores the conflicts faced by a woman torn between two worlds, both of which seem bent on denying her very humanity. As the film's tone shifts from the relative calm and occasional joy of the village before General Zia's rise to power to the fear and repression that spreads after, it presents an engaging and informative depiction of Pakistan's tumultuous history from an intimate perspective. Despite its weaknesses, Silent Waters, which was shown at New Directors/New Films in 2003, is an important and moving film. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide