1947 has always been (and always will be) an ambivalent event in the history of India and Pakistan. While it meant the end of British colonial rule, it also saw the partition of one country into two and the beginning of conflicts which have lasted to this very day. As people had to leave their homes to migrate to either India or the newly formed Pakistan, it was a breeding ground for further unrest, hatred and war, which started right from the very first moment. In his short feature “Murder Tongue” Pakistani director Ali Sohail Jaura, whose “Dry Leaves” proved his willingness to tackle sensitive social issues, deals with one of the most controversial events in the history of Pakistan, the “Operation” from 1992 to 1994, which cost the lives of thousands of Urdu speaking people.
Murder Tongue screened at Busan International Short Film Festival
It is May 1992 and the city of Karachi has been experiencing civil unrest for quite some time. Abdul Aziz Ansari (Munawar Saeed) is worried as his son has not returned from his day at work, and feels something bad has happened to him. His worries are confirmed when his daughter-in-law Naseema (Amtul Baweja) tells him she has not heard from her husband either, making Abdul want to find him on his own. However, as two of his colleagues show up on their doorstep, they demand Abdul to come with them to the hospital, as his son has been in a gunfight. As he steps out into the night and takes a seat in their car, this is only the beginning of one of the most violent and chaotic nights because the conflicts of the past days have seemingly reached a climax.
There is something to be said about the amount of drama Jaura manages to pack into his 18-minute-short. While the first half captures the growing family drama, ignited by the son seemingly gone missing, the other half shows the sheer amount of unrest and brutality which has erupted in the streets of the city, resulting in a heart-wrenching finale in the hospital. Although Jaura is careful to focus on Abdul’s family, he emphasizes how many go through similar traumatizing experiences, with aspects such as the sound design, the lighting and Mo Azmi‘s cinematography stressing the growing violence within the streets of Karachi, turning it into something close to a war zone.
At the same time, as the majority of “Murder Tongue” is carried on the shoulders of actor Munawar Saeed, you need to mention his performance too. While the narrative and the experiences the character goes through would invite a much more melodramatic approach, Saeed’s performance and Jaura’s direction is clever enough not to fall into this trap. The encounter with a police officer stopping the car on its way to the hospital is one example to present the understated approach which, while showing the anxiety of the main character, maintains its focus, hinting at how these instances of oppression and racism have become the new normal.
“Murder Tongue” is a drama taking a look at one of the darkest chapters in Pakistan’s history, through the lens of a family father looking for his son. Ali Sohail Jaura’s aesthetic approach and Munawar Saeed’s acting make the feature into a touching and at times shocking experience which packs quite a punch.
