‘Khel Khel Mein’: On intergenerational trauma, manipulated histories, and the need for more art

The best thing to have happened to millennials is the realization that Literature goes beyond introverted minds and has the ability to bring about practical changes like any other subject. Khel Khel Mein, the first Pakistani film to hit the cinema halls post-COVID, on November 19, makes evident this realization at two levels; by itself emerging as a film that seeks to change the way how people have been made to think following manipulated historical narratives, and by incorporating a genre within a genre to tell how important it is to produce more and more well-researched art and literature so that people are made to question what they have been taught to believe.

It is within the latter framework that the entire movie has been designed. A group of theatre enthusiasts from a notable university try hard to send their participation confirmation at an international theatre festival taking place at Dhaka University; the major difficulty arising from the topic they are made to work on by one of the group members, Zara (Sajal Aly), who insists on telling through dramatic art how things are not the way Bengalis are made to believe regarding Pakistanis when it comes to the partition of 1971. The other group members, particularly the president named Saad (Bilal Abbas Khan) initially show their reservations at dealing with such a sensitive topic and that too within Bangladesh, but are made to surrender when Zara motivates them to develop a critical thinking towards historical events by making an effort to read and research outside oft-repeated narratives. What provides logic to Zara’s character is her family history, with a grandmother having to let go of her husband in the wake of 1971 riots, transferring her grief to her later generations. This intergenerational trauma is what renders Zara’s character a well-developed one, with her critical mindset not just being a matter of mere luck. The team is also motivated to go for the topic by a university peon, Babu (Nazr ul Hassan) who relates his experience of losing both of his parents amidst the 1971 chaos.

After encountering multiple restrictions, from their parents as well as their university’s board of directors, the theatre team finally makes it to Dhaka Theatre festival, where they are met with derogatory remarks and accusatory glances by the Bengalis, the purpose being to tell how seeds of animosity planted between East and West Pakistanis by external forces continue to yield results even years and years after the historical event. With the purpose to clear this very air, the theatre team then presents its performance based on the war of 1971, eventually winning the hearts of all the Bengalis at Dhaka University by making them realize how Pakistanis are not to be held culpable the way Bengalis have been made to think about them all these years, a prior part in which exterior forces have to play who have manipulated both written and oral histories in accordance with their own interests.

Highs

Khel Khel Mein brings together an ensemble star cast including Marina Khan, Jawed Sheikh, Laila Wasti, Samina Ahmed, Naveed Raza, Mojiz Hassan, Irfan Motiwala, Nazar-ul-Hussan, Manzar Sehbai, Sheheryar Munawar and Farhan Ally Agha along-with Sajal Aly and Bilal Abbas Khan. A lot of other performers are new faces but excellent in their craft, acting as naturally as possible, such as Reham Rafique, Hammad Sheikh, Hussain Mohsin, Ali Rehman, Qudsia Ali, Aneesha Altaf, Hassan Bin Javed and Fayed Ali.

All the songs of Khel Khel Mein serve a purpose, that of infusing passion among the youngsters to work and think out of the box, the latter being the most important instruction to have been given throughout the film, presented in an even more beautiful manner by developing the principal’s character (Marina Khan) as one that needs equal focus on studies and arts.

The movie stands out for its depiction of enthusiastic young artists who are not ready to leave their passion for the sake of the society, and are also well-acquainted with the fact that their talent has bigger purposes to serve other than mere entertainment.

A connection between the past and present has been drawn by incorporating a sequence on the instability of Balochistan province, the message therein being that if history is not properly revisited and learnt from, then no one can stop another partition from taking place. Thus, the need of the time is unity and a vigilant check on insincere exterior forces.

The trickle-down effect of trauma, represented through the characters of Samina Ahmed and Nazr-ul-Hassan, is authentic with respect to researches done on land partitions, and also conveys a message that no one knows better history than the real-eye witnesses, hence the part of Manzar Sehbai also emerges as heart-wrenching and eye-opening.

The theatrical performance at the end of the film is way more spectacular than expected, showing creative story-telling by employing all the classic theatrical devices such as masquerade, mime and music. The highly attractive theatrical performance at this point in the film renders the director of Khel Khel Mein a person with creative capabilities richer than perceived, for he makes the best use of both film and theatre techniques to present this visual treat of a genre within a genre, something hitherto known for being used in classical literature only.

Lows

Although the entire idea of art cutting across borders to connect hearts and spread peace is beautiful, there are points in the film where the very objective, one which is also inherent in the title of the film, seems to get somewhat dimmed when the characters get a little too direct in naming the exterior forces that were involved in creating the 1971 conflict. Showing characters across the border in a negative light, and depicting deadly fights between people from the two countries makes Pakistani filmmakers somewhat similar to the ones working on the other side of the border, blatantly showing Muslims as villains. Although the very purpose of the film is to create love and peace among East and West Pakistanis by telling who the real enemy was, things could have been kept subtle by not directly naming countries so that the very title Khel Khel Mein with its light tone could be justified without creativity being affected and the idea of art as a medium of love could be validated.

In a dire attempt to show the country across border in a negative light, a lot of other historical facts still go unattended and people are left wanting to have a more in-depth knowledge of the event known as the Fall of Dhaka.

Having said that, Khel Khel Mein is a beautiful attempt on the part of the director to induce critical thinking among youth, with a special focus towards the need to revisit history and learn from it so that future socio-political disasters can be avoided.

Khel Khel Mein has been written and directed by Nabeel Qureshi and produced by Fizza Ali Meerza.

Muhammad Ali has an M.Phil in classic and contemporary Pakistani television drama, Partition Novel and Literary Environmental Literature. He has written extensively on these topics for various local newspapers between 2015-2020. His research on Sahira Kazmi's classical drama serial "Zaib un Nisa" has been presented on various platforms such as Olomopolo Media and ICDELL, 2019. He can be reached on Twitter @MuhammadAli_DT, and through email at [email protected]