"Bol" Movie

“Bol” touches upon many issues that our society is facing. After provoking such big issues like poverty, education, women’s rights, childbirth, dated interpretations of religion, generation gap, corruption and sectarian differences (sunni-shia), the ending seemed a bit detached.  Had the movie taken just a few issues and provided a sensible solution for them rather than just giving an audience pleasing ending, it would have been more meaningful.

- Despite its flaws, Bol evokes one’s emotions. “Bol” is asking its female audience to speak-up in a society where injustice and exploitation thrives. Zainab is the example of a strong woman. She stands up for her sisters and mother no matter how harshly Hakim Saab responds back to her. She faces death penalty because she killed her father while saving a baby girl who was born to Meena, the tawaif, and Hakim Saab. Zainab seems to be taking a strong stand for general female population rather than just her female family members.  

-  Saifi is the secular figure, who is identity-less, voiceless and genderless. Saifi from the very beginning has not been allowed to settle in the society. His father chooses not to name him (even animals are named by their owners), he is not admitted into a school and his sisters do not allow him to be a “girl”. There is one point in the movie where Saifi naively tries to express his true feelings, identity and gender (an identity he’s comfortable in) but is immediately banned from doing so. This scene is when he dresses up like a female and expresses his feelings towards Mustafa:

Saifi: “Meh kaisa lag raha hoon?”

Sisters: "Kuttay kameenay kitni dafa samjhaya hai tumhay? kitni dafa samjhaya hai Saifi? Tum mard ho mard ban key raha kero. Saifi mard kartay hain aisa? Tum koi larki ho".

Saifi: “Toh phir mujhe Mustafa bhai kyun pasand hain?” 

Poor Saifi is left in a state of confusion. The society is asking him to be something he cannot be which is “a mard” and at the same time the society won’t let him be what he wants to be (“a larki”). This confusion of being one thing and not the other leads him astray and even more confused then he already seems to be. Had Saifi been given the chance to be what he wanted, he would have had some kind of identity just like the gay who has the confidence to report Saifi’s murder to the police. The gay stands up for JUSTICE.

- The “Religious” Hakim saab vs. The “Kanjar” Saqa.

Hakim Saab is a figure one might never feel pity for no matter how bad of a situation he’s in. If he was a person of morals he would not have done many things which he does throughout the movie (i.e abusive behavior against his family, bribing the police to save his “izzat”, contract with Saqa to pay back Mosque’s funds, etc.). Why would he go to Saqa to teach his kids Quran when he had refused to do so in the first place? Why not stick to your real identity and morals? Has he no self-respect? In comparison, Saqa , despite being a “kanjar”, seems to have more concrete morals and identity. He sticks to what he truly is. Even though he’s a brothel keeper, he has more self-respect than the religious Hakim Saab. He’s a kanjar hence he plays music into the newborn’s ears. He sticks to his identity and remains true to himself. But Hakim Saab starts off as a religious person and ends up as a kanjar. He is “paid” to sleep with Meena. I feel like, just how he didn’t allow Saifi to have a true identity, the society does the same to him and he loses his identity too. Saifi is raped? Well, so does Hakim Saab gets paid to sleep with Meena! Saifi dies? Well, so does Hakim Saab! In the end, Hakim Saab, holds the lowest position in the movie (even below the gays) because he is even kicked out of a kanjar’s house and truly belongs no where.