Below is the story of a movie I watched recently. It was an Urdu movie made in Pakistan. Filmography, music, almost everything was perfect. It was a treat to see a big part of the movie being filmed in a suburb called 'Heera Mandhi' or the diamond market of Lahore. The courtesans are the diamonds. Most buildings were built by Mughals. The movie is full of obscurantism which prevail in South Asian societies. I have numbered them as I identified them. I will let you make your own inferences, but, please share them with me. Here I go.
A Homeopathy doctor (Doc) in Lahore, Pakistan is obsessed with having a male child (1). Every other year his wife gives birth to a female child, many die, four survive.
Finally a child, which turned out to be a eunuch. The midwife advises the Doc to hand-over the child to a group of Eunuchs, but he doctor declines. Instead, he wanted to kill the child to avoid embarrassment in future (2). His wife stops him from doing so, assuring that she would raise the child indoors as a boy.
A Homeopathy doctor (Doc) in Lahore, Pakistan is obsessed with having a male child (1). Every other year his wife gives birth to a female child, many die, four survive.
Finally a child, which turned out to be a eunuch. The midwife advises the Doc to hand-over the child to a group of Eunuchs, but he doctor declines. Instead, he wanted to kill the child to avoid embarrassment in future (2). His wife stops him from doing so, assuring that she would raise the child indoors as a boy.
One day, he was out of town,the first daughter takes the mother for contraception (3). With days the doc finds out that the wife is not getting pregnant, figures out what has happened and beat up the wife and the daughter (4).
For other girls he was a strict father who did not believe in education of girls(5). All were stopped schooling after year 5.
His first daughter gets married, the marriage did not work out, so, she is 'returned' to the father(6).
The women at home were not allowed to question anything. If he does not have an answer, he will beat them up (7).
His second daughter falls in love with a neighbor, belonging to Shia community. He refuses the proposal made by the boy's parents on the grounds that they were not Sunnis. A pimp, belonging to Shia community requests him to teach Quran to children in the red light area, which he rejects (8).
The local community however respects him as a religious scholar, and entrusts him with the appointment as a treasurer of the committee wanting to build a new mosque. Two lacs rupees was in his possession, which belonged to the committee.
As days pass, his income goes down. The second daughter's boy friend arranges a painting job for the Eunuch with a group which paints trucks. (S)he was paid 100 Rs per day, but the Doc was unwilling to accept (9).
One day, the eunuch was tied up and raped by fellow painters and left in the fields. Another eunuch unties the younger one takes him home, cleans him and dresses him as a girl. The younger eunuch, with make up and dresses return home late at night, the Doc gets angry, afraid of embarrassment suffocates and kills (10) the eunuch, as the first daughter watches.
The eunuch who helped the younger one gets suspicious, and report it as a murder to the local Police inspector. The inspector asks the Doc to swear on the holy book (11), that the death was not a murder. The doctor declines to swear - fear of God - and accepts the charge that he killed the younger Eunuch. The inspector agrees to cover it up, if the doctor paid him 2 lacs (12). The doctor gives the two lacs which belonged to the committee to the inspector (13) in the hope that he could earn and collect two lacs before it was required by the committee.
To earn more money, he agrees to teach Quran to the Children in the red light area (14). He was paid with money thrown at the courtesans, which he will bring home, wash, and the wife will iron, before they use (15).
The Doc has now collected 25,000 Rs, but the committee wanted the 2 lacs back. He requests the pimp to lend him the money. The pimp, knowing that the Doc fathers only female children, makes a deal with him. The Doc should father a female child to his daughter. If the grand kid of the pimp is a girl, the doctor need not return the money. Just leave the child and go. If the grand child is a boy, then again, the doctor need not return the money, but must take the male child with him. After all, the doctor wanted a son anyway. The doctor agrees provided the pimp's daughter would marry him. He did not want to father a child out of wedlock (16). All is well, he marries the courtesan, and lo and be hold, its a girl!
Now the doctor did not want his child to become a courtesan, he begs the pimp to let him have the baby. The pimp beats him up and chases him away. The doctor returns home with guilt. In a few hours, the second wife brings the baby girl, leave it in front of the doctor's house and disappears. Now the courtesan do not want her daughter to become a prostitute. The first wife questions the husband who now reveals that he has a second wife. Arguments - violence pursue and the doctor throws the baby down hoping it would die. But, one of the daughters saves the baby. The doctor continues assault of his first wife with rage, the first daughter takes a baton, hits the father, the father dies.
Now the pimp is at the door looking for his grand child, but one of the daughters had taken the baby and went hiding at their neighbors. The pimp was told that the doctor killed the baby and threw her away, and when he attacked the others in the family, he was killed by the first daughter. Pimp leaves grudgingly, the first daughter admits murder, but refuses to defend herself, and was sent to gallows! Rest of the women are now free, start a new life.
For other girls he was a strict father who did not believe in education of girls(5). All were stopped schooling after year 5.
His first daughter gets married, the marriage did not work out, so, she is 'returned' to the father(6).
The women at home were not allowed to question anything. If he does not have an answer, he will beat them up (7).
His second daughter falls in love with a neighbor, belonging to Shia community. He refuses the proposal made by the boy's parents on the grounds that they were not Sunnis. A pimp, belonging to Shia community requests him to teach Quran to children in the red light area, which he rejects (8).
The local community however respects him as a religious scholar, and entrusts him with the appointment as a treasurer of the committee wanting to build a new mosque. Two lacs rupees was in his possession, which belonged to the committee.
As days pass, his income goes down. The second daughter's boy friend arranges a painting job for the Eunuch with a group which paints trucks. (S)he was paid 100 Rs per day, but the Doc was unwilling to accept (9).
One day, the eunuch was tied up and raped by fellow painters and left in the fields. Another eunuch unties the younger one takes him home, cleans him and dresses him as a girl. The younger eunuch, with make up and dresses return home late at night, the Doc gets angry, afraid of embarrassment suffocates and kills (10) the eunuch, as the first daughter watches.
The eunuch who helped the younger one gets suspicious, and report it as a murder to the local Police inspector. The inspector asks the Doc to swear on the holy book (11), that the death was not a murder. The doctor declines to swear - fear of God - and accepts the charge that he killed the younger Eunuch. The inspector agrees to cover it up, if the doctor paid him 2 lacs (12). The doctor gives the two lacs which belonged to the committee to the inspector (13) in the hope that he could earn and collect two lacs before it was required by the committee.
To earn more money, he agrees to teach Quran to the Children in the red light area (14). He was paid with money thrown at the courtesans, which he will bring home, wash, and the wife will iron, before they use (15).
The Doc has now collected 25,000 Rs, but the committee wanted the 2 lacs back. He requests the pimp to lend him the money. The pimp, knowing that the Doc fathers only female children, makes a deal with him. The Doc should father a female child to his daughter. If the grand kid of the pimp is a girl, the doctor need not return the money. Just leave the child and go. If the grand child is a boy, then again, the doctor need not return the money, but must take the male child with him. After all, the doctor wanted a son anyway. The doctor agrees provided the pimp's daughter would marry him. He did not want to father a child out of wedlock (16). All is well, he marries the courtesan, and lo and be hold, its a girl!
Now the doctor did not want his child to become a courtesan, he begs the pimp to let him have the baby. The pimp beats him up and chases him away. The doctor returns home with guilt. In a few hours, the second wife brings the baby girl, leave it in front of the doctor's house and disappears. Now the courtesan do not want her daughter to become a prostitute. The first wife questions the husband who now reveals that he has a second wife. Arguments - violence pursue and the doctor throws the baby down hoping it would die. But, one of the daughters saves the baby. The doctor continues assault of his first wife with rage, the first daughter takes a baton, hits the father, the father dies.
Now the pimp is at the door looking for his grand child, but one of the daughters had taken the baby and went hiding at their neighbors. The pimp was told that the doctor killed the baby and threw her away, and when he attacked the others in the family, he was killed by the first daughter. Pimp leaves grudgingly, the first daughter admits murder, but refuses to defend herself, and was sent to gallows! Rest of the women are now free, start a new life.
