Sunday, 27th of February 2011, was the last day of the South Asian Film Festival at Tuggeranong Art Centre in Canberra city, the Australian Federal Capital. Emaan movie was representing Afghanistan in the festival. Does Afghanistan light up anything in your mind? War and Terror, you are right. The last three decades of war has ruined everything and so as the film industry. Frankly speaking Afghanistan never had a film industry by what it means in western countries but produced few noted films along the way if not so many.
Post-Taliban as the reconstruction geared up, suddenly film making became number one in the list of the youth of this war torn country. Many young Afghans in western countries attempted like one man-army to make movies. Producer, director, writer, actor, and editor were all-in-one. Action and sexual intimation scenes were the easiest way to copy from Hollywood movies and that gone horribly wrong with Afghan audiences apart from luck of professionalism.
The last outing Emaan movie is directed and produced by Haris Yosufi, a Sydney resident. Unlike his other counterparts he settled down to be only the director of his debuting venture into world of film making. Haris Yosufi flew thousands of miles back to his birth place Kabul to shoot his film in actual place with local actors. Luck of facilities, professional casts and crews took him almost half a year to complete his film. After completing post production back in Sydney, finally his movie got chance to light up the silver screen.
In the film business, the content is the king and first element of a movie success. Good script, well-developed characters, sell-able casts and reputable production house guarantee success for any film. Luckily with Emaan case, it has the king with itself alongside the good script. Such well-written script is just unbelievable to come from a country that lucks a film industry. Dialogs are almost natural and there is no doll moment. The content demonstrates the current social and political aspect of the country reasonably well. Unfortunately the writer remains anonymous for the security purpose which is not reasonable. He or she needs to be praised for such a great and artistic piece of work.
Emaan character has played by Rasool Emaan, as the lead character and hero of the movie. He is the most honest officers in the national police force, he believes in crime-less society. He is committed to punish criminals' disregards their position. How Emaan encounters the criminals and bring them to justice is worth watching eagerly to the last scene. As far as the performance, Rasool Emaan portraits his part reasonably well, in some scenes he is really great.
Freshta character has played by Tamanna Amini. Her character demonstrates a big population of her gender. She has her own story to tell. It is short but convincing. She played her role with great ease and understanding. She deserves to be praised for her acting.
Parviz khan character has played by Ghafar Qutbyar. He is the main villain of the movie. His character is one of the most interesting of characters. Coarse language goes well with his character and he mounts them naturally. He is perfect in all scenes. His acting is top notch, cannot be better than that. He is the most accomplished actor in the movie.
There are few brief characters in the movie which spice up the content and take the story forward.
Shooting locations gives great justice to the story and that credit goes to the director. Clothing is great and looks natural and real. With limited source and professional make-up artist, the job has done in a great way. Picture quality is great and over all it is the best among the best Afghani movies in terms of scene quality. The lighting and sound is adequate. Background music is great. Some scenes could have been extended to a more meaningful length but no one will mind it really. The last scene could have been done with more tension and action but it is still great.
On the whole, Emaan is worth money and time to invest in watching it. After all it is not Hollywood or Bollywood to release a new movie every weekend so do not miss it. At least by watching Emaan you will gain brief information about current situation in Afghanistan. This movie has a lot to say, a good massage at least. Well written and wonderful direction. If you got chance to watch it, go for it.
By, Atiqullah Barlian
28, 2, 11
