Mother

Mother

I am surprised at the rave reviews this film has received. In fact they are what prompted me to see this alleged masterpiece that has been submitted for Oscar consideration by Pakistan. I was sorely disappointed and don't even understand if the other reviewers and I saw the same film. To get this out of the way, the story was worth telling, the acting was excellent, the soundtrack heavenly, the aesthetics mesmerizing to say the least. HOWEVER, that is NOT all it takes to make a movie an art film. The story was poorly told. Poorly. To make a film universal, a filmmaker must assume that the audience knows zilch about the subject matter; start from the start. He/She must build up the story in a way that the audience is at the edge of their seats by the climax, quivering to know what happens. It's not even about suspense; a work of art should MOVE you. It should make you feel something. The story was so close to home because I love trains, and I live in Pakistan. If the film failed to move someone so directly involved, how is going to move people who know nothing about Pakistan Railway and the level of corruption in this country? Don't get me wrong, everything good that I said about it is true and only if the scenes were rearranged to tell the story from scratch, properly, intensely, it could have been moving and unbelievably beautiful. For me, Moor failed to be what it claimed to be. Manto should have been submitted for Oscar consideration.

After watching Jami's O21, I had high hopes for MOOR because he doesn't follow the usual ingredients of a Lollywood or Bollywood movie. Surely, MOOR wasn't your typical Indian musical or a romcom. The basic story line is powerful, it deals with corruption in railways, neglect of government for Balochistan, moral degradation of society (particularly Karachi), lust of man for money and bonding within the family. What Jami failed to do this time was to create a steady momentum of the story. Movie seems to be a product of bad editing where haphazard scenes collide. The first 50 minutes seemed like a psychological thriller where a man is marred with the guilt of not saving his mother in his childhood. Also those 50 minutes could have been shown in a total of 15 minutes span. Scenes are shot in detail from an artistic point of view not from storytelling perspective. The emotional scenes are so long that they affect the whole feeling in it. The director failed to project the characters emotions. Dialogues seemed to be a rip off of an old moral story that mothers in Pakistan tell their kids and they were prolonged for no particular reason. You have got your railway corruption, backwardness of Balochistan and moral dilemmas being shown at the same time, nothing is wrong with it… but poor editing made it confusing for the audience to concentrate to all of it. The light background music wasn't effective during the dialogues as it should have been. Shots were too much zoomed in. There is hardly a scene where you see a character's full body or the environment he/she is in (apart from the outside shots in Balochistan). It was as if cameraman didn't knew how to zoom out. Maybe the director wanted to show the facial expressions in detail while a character's life is in turmoil but it was all too much. From an artistic directors' point of view, the shots are beautiful. But overall Jami failed to compile the movie to convey a heavy message. You have to assimilate more than 90 minutes to receive this message: Money is not real happiness, family ties are important, Pakistan (motherland) is to be taken care of by every individual and to always act morally.

Moor is not less than a master piece, Jami pulled the job too perfect. It is a true movie which contains, proper cinematography elements, selection of shots, location, story plot which is better than many other Hollywood-Bollywood stories. Best music (pretty obsessed with the tunes) couldn't get over. Perfectly polished cast for pulling the characters. dialogue delivery too good!! Moor is a must watch movie -- for those who literally know what movie or film industry means, not to those who are just there to kill their time with fancy clothes, bouncy beats, or glamorous colorful life. Its more of reality check for us. Once again shout out to JAMI and TEAM, you guys make us proud. Perfectly done job. Another part, its an encouragement to all the upcoming film students and moral boosting. To see our film industry flourishing in a right direction.

Watched "moor "I just wanna say that it should be submitted to the best foreign film of the year category from Pakistan. I am 100 sure this movie will get an Oscar . Simple story but convey it in a completed and complicated way which I like the most and Visually epic ,all the people who are saying where is real cinema so i can assure you "moor" is a real cinema of Pakistan.The cinematography at its best every shot is breathtaking this movie .in this movie we found couple of great actors like shaaz khan Soniya hussian especially. For those people who likes real films and Real script moor is real treat to watch . Thanks Jami for this world class movie .

Jami is one of the brightest names to come out of Pakistan. Last year, his film Operation 021, which tackled the theme of terrorism, won wide acclaim and praise. The supremely talented storyteller is back with another bold and hard-hitting effort called Moor, which tells the multi-layered story of Wahidullah, the station master of Khost railway station, who is forced to sell off the railway infrastructure due to political pressure and financial benefits. On the other hand, his son Ahsanullah Khan moves to Karachi, and finds himself entangled in a series of life changing events. Moor makes you peep into the lives of a family living in Balochistan, making us aware of the predicament, the anguish, their determination to survive against all odds. Moor shocks and stuns also because of the sub-plots in the plot line and the twists and turns in the story. Of course, I wouldn't like to reveal the details and spoil the fun of watching this brilliant fare, but I'd like to add that one has rarely witnessed such themes on the big screen especially in Pakistan. It serves as a wake-up call for the orthodox film makers to think out of the box and come up with path breaking stories. Admiring MOOR and not appreciating Jami would be doing a great disservice to the individualist film-maker. He deserves brownie points for not just choosing a completely offbeat subject, but also handling it with aplomb. That's not all, for Jami has extracted wonderful performances from the principal cast. The soundtrack of the film is done by 'Strings' and lyrics are penned by Mr. Anwar Maqsood. Some big names which include Javed Bashir, Strings themselves, Rahim Shah and Meesha Shafi have lent their vocals and made it the most remarkable music album of a Pakistani film so far. Talabgar, Eva, Jogiya and Gul Bashri are the pick of the lot and unlike other movie soundtracks; this one will surely have a long shelf life. MOOR's cinematography is another highlight of the movie. Breathtaking locales of Balochistan have been captured like never before. The awe- inspiring beauty of this part of our country simply blows away the audience. Each and every shot is done with so much detail and perfection that it looks like a beautiful painting. Moor, undoubtedly is by far the best piece of work by any Pakistani film maker. Hats off to Team MOOR. IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE NEW FACE OF THOUGHT PROVIKING PAKISTANI CINEMA AND IF YOU ARE TIRED OF MASALA FLICKS WITH MINDLESS COMEDY, THEN THIS IS THE FILM TO WATCH PEOPLE> MUST, MUST WATCH!

Moor is a film that is simply way ahead of time. One normally gets to see such films from a mature industry once in many years. Such films are normally made without taking commercial aspects into consideration because such masterpieces are crafted for achieving way more than just money. Seeing a film of this level from an industry that is trying to revive itself was an awesome experience and it is hard to collect enough words to express the joy and satisfaction I had after watching this masterpiece from Mr. Jami & his team. Honestly no local or Bollywood stuff that I have seen so far comes even near to this... Moor is truly an emotional masterpiece... It is a film that truly represents Pakistan & the things that represent us ... family, relations & land... This film has it all ... excellent direction and cinematography, outstanding story and acting (especially by Mr. Hameed Sheikh, great music & a great depiction of the beauty of Baluchistan.. Hats off Jami & team for a film that any Pakistani would truly want to be associated with Pakistan ... Yes it had few minor flaws as well but overall it is highly recommended for those who appreciate true drama & true story & are not too much into commercial films... Again this film is not for those who want some action, some dance moves with charming item numbers and enjoy stories that are straightforward and easy to connect. This movie demands patience from its watchers and only those will enjoy who have the courage to bear the story till the end. I will not be amazed if this movie fails to earn a lot of money but at the end success of such a top class masterpiece does not deserve to be measured in terms of revenues that it generates. Moor is successful because it has communicated the message that it wanted to convey in an awesome manner and this is the Real Success of the film.

I wanted to like this movie. I really wanted to, but couldn't despite all sincerity. First, the good things: Awesome cinematography, at par with any internationally acclaimed movie. Breath-taking landscapes of Baluchistan captured in all its grandiosity. Brilliant score by Strings. Urban yet soul-touching music. But the movie failed to properly convey the issue of corruption in Railways (or Pakistan in general). I couldn't develop emotional connect with any of the characters whatsoever. Non-linear haphazard storyline, forgetful dialogues, terrible pace, story-telling at its worst. What's with the spitting scenes, twice? And useless scenes like Baggoo's race with the Range Rover of Lalu. No character development at all. This movie should have been named "Wahid" instead of Moor as Hameed Sheikh is almost in 90% of the frames. Samiya Mumtaz given very little On-Screen time. Amateur acting by Shaz Khan, but mature acting by Sonia Hussain. She looked elegant and beautiful on screen. Ayaz Samoo's wasted debut. At the end of this 150 minutes long snooze-fest, I just wanted refund !!

Didn't expected this from Jami, after Operation 21. I was expecting so much from this movie, and as a fan of Jami (Not anymore) I was curiously waiting for the movie to release. After so much hype and everyone praising Jami on social media, I thought this would be a good movie. Don't know what he really wanted to convey through his film, pathetic movie. Only music, locations and direction were good but the story was dead. I hated what he showed in movie that every person in Karachi is doing fraud and drinking alcohol and going to the club to have a party and that we are dead people. Jami get a life dude, I don't know where are you from but please don't play with our emotions. Should have watched Shah. And this was not only my review people exiting from cinema were also saying this that it was a waste of money.

Moor. Was the hype deserved? . The movie started well. The place was beautiful, camera angles were refreshing and different from those I have seen in previous Pakistani movies. Individual scenes were shot beautifully and care was taken of the little details. It was a poetic depiction of a story.Editing was loose at some places and some scenes were patched on very abruptly. Casting and acting was OK, better than previous Pakistani movies. Some actors did fit in their roles. Shaz Khan was OK in his role of Ehsaan but he did not leave any lasting impression. It was his father Hameed Sheikh playing the role of the station master, who did a good job. Samiya Mumtaz as usual, did justice to her role. Sara, the sister spoke beautifully in a voice coated with honey, though her accent was way off for a Baloch girl. Amber, his girlfriend was convincing in her small role. Ehsan's friend was good too. Another important role was Baggoo, whose character I did not find adorable, at all. Dialogues were average, nothing I would feel compelled to quote. But coming to the most important ingredient of a good film: the story, It was not gripping. At all. It was as boring as the trailer made it seem. I failed to develop any concern for any character, let alone an emotional connection. It was a third party viewing and analyzing. It also appeared as if director was trying to complicate a very simple thing. This is modern story telling but I personally think it is appropriate when the story has more to reveal. You can shoot a cat drinking milk from three angles but in the end if the cat is only drinking milk, it's boring. There's no twist to it. People are going to lose interest. I also don't know how the conscience of people suddenly wakes up from its deep slumber by one or two emotional situations. It is the director's responsibility to bridge the gap between the good and bad by a convincing turn of events. Character development was not as bad as in previous lollywood films but still. disappointing. Predictable. Utopian. Nothing new. Possibly the only thing I actually enjoyed about the movie was the background music with the beautiful shots of Balochistan. I wanted that to go on and on. (Admittedly, towards the end it was also because i wanted to avoid the movie) Some nuances: In one scene Ehsaan says after reading her mother lab reports that she was diagnosed with Broken heart syndrome. Seriously? One cannot read different interesting conditions on internet and diagnose the characters in his movie with it. No one is diagnosed with 'broken heart syndrome' on a lab report,as such. It's a retrospective diagnosis made on 'speculation'. It is a term coined for the very rare occasions when someone experiences severe heart conditions and there is no physical abnormality that explains it, and if the only explanation could be psychological stress or trauma . No one diagnoses it on 'lab reports'. What a piece of fiction! . In retrospect, would i want to watch this movie if i knew what it was like? No. I wouldn't. It is just another movie which made me feel that i sat through it to encourage local cinema. Was the hype deserved? No. If this was Pakistan cinema at its finest then they sure have a long way to go.