Ramchand Pakistani

Ramchand Pakistani
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mehreen Jabbar
Written by	Javed Jabbar
Screenplay by	Mohammad Ahmed
Produced by	Javed Jabbar
Starring	Rashid Farooqui Nandita Das Syed Fazal Hussain Maria Wasti Nouman Ijaz Hassan Niazi Adnan Shah Shahood Alvi Zhalay Sarhadi Saleem Mairaj Saife Hassan Sajid Shah
Cinematography	Sofian Khan
Edited by	Aseem Sinha
Music by	Debojyoti Mishra Moringo Nusrat Nigam Banerjee Sarthak Sarkar Shiraj Hussain
Production company	Percept Picture Company
Distributed by	Geo Films Museum of Modern Art
Release date	2 October 2008 (2008-10-02) (Pakistan)
Running time	103 minutes
Country	Pakistan
Language	Urdu
Budget	Rs. 6.0 crore (US$210,000)

Ramchand Pakistani (Template:Lang-ur) is an Urdu-language Pakistani drama film directed by Mehreen Jabbar and produced by Javed Jabbar. The film features Nandita Das, Rashid Farooqi, Syed Fazel Hussain, Maria Wasti and Noman Ijaz in lead roles. The film is based on a true story of a boy who inadvertently crosses the border between Pakistan and India and the following ordeal that his family has to go through. Ramchand Pakistani was also released in India.

Plot

Champa (Nandita Das) is a Hindu woman who is left desolate when her young son and husband disappear one day from their village at the Pakistan-India border near Nagarparkar, in Tharparkar. The film depicts the crossing of the Pakistan-India border, during a period (June 2002) of war-like tension between the two countries, by two members of a Pakistani Hindu family belonging to the 'untouchable' dalit caste, and the extraordinary consequences of this unintended action upon the lives of a woman, a man, and their son.

The film is about a Hindu Dalit family living in Pakistan peacefully. Ramchand, the main protagonist who is 8 years old, is the son of Shankar and Champa. One day, after an altercation with his mother, Ramchand runs away in anger and, accidentally, crosses the Indo-Pakistan border into India. His father follows him and, he too, crosses the border into India.

After being arrested by the border security personnel, they are sent to a prison in India and stay there for a long time. They get a release order soon, but later it turns out to be a mistake and they are sent back to the jail. Ramchand, the 8 years old boy, and his father Shankar are unregistered prisoners during much of their stay in India. Meanwhile, Ramchand’s mother, Champa, leads a life of loneliness and although she takes a temporary job in a faraway place, she returns to her village.

Finally, after 5 years, when Ramchand has grown a few years, he gets released. He returns home to his mother. His father, Shankar, also gets released soon after. They are united and there, the film ends.

The singular theme of the film is how a child from Pakistan aged eight years, learns to cope with the trauma of forced separation from his mother while being held prisoner, along with his father in the jail of a country (India), which is hostile to his own (Pakistan). Meanwhile, the wife-mother, devastated by their sudden disappearance builds a new chapter of her life, by her solitary struggle for sheer survival.

Cast

• Nandita Das as Champa
• Syed Fazal Hussain as Younger Ramchand
• Navaid Jabbar as Older Ramchand
• Rashid Farooqui as Shankar
• Maria Wasti as Kamla
• Nouman Ijaz as Abdullah
• Adnan Shah as Sharma
• Adarsh Ayaz as Moti
• Farooq Pario as Suresh
• Shahood Alvi as Asif Hussain
• Zhalay Sarhadi as Lakshmi
• Atif Badar as Lalu
• Saleem Mairaj as Vishesh
• Saif-e-Hasan as Murad
• Rao Saleem as Interrogator
• Karim Bux Baloch as Baloch
• Master Yaqub as Baba Gul
• Hassan Niazi as Deepak
• Kazim Raza as Professor
• Muhammad Rafiq as Bengali
• Sajid Shah as Inspector
• Iqbal Motilani as Maulvi
• Anis Chachar as Captain Saleem

Film screenings overseas

This film had six screenings at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 2010.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack is composed by Debojyoti Mishra and include the following songs:

Track	Song	Singers	Composer	Duration
01	Teri Meri Preet	Shubha Mudgal	Debojyoti Mishra	5:34
02	Allah Megh De	Shubha Mudgal & Shafqat Amanat Ali	Debojyoti Mishra	4:41
03	Phir Wahi Raste	Shafqat Amanat Ali	Debojyoti Mishra	5:52
04	Khari Neem Key Neechay	Mai Bhagi	Debojyoti Mishra	5:24
05	Tarrin Paunda	Allan Fakir	Debojyoti Mishra	6:09
06	Meri Maat	Instrumental	Debojyoti Mishra	4:19

Awards

This film won the following awards:

• FIPRESCI Prize from the International Federation of Film Critics at the Osian Film Festival, July, 2008
• Winner of Honourable Mention by the 13th Annual Satyajit Ray Award at the 2008 London Film Festival.
• Best Actor for Rashid Farooqi at the KaraFilm Festival, Pakistan, 2009
• Winner of Audience Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival, Switzerland, March 2009.
• Winner of Special Mention by the Eucumenical Jury at the Fribourg International Film Festival March 2009.
• Winner of Special Mention by the E-Changer Award at the Fribourg International Film Festival in March 2009
• Ramchand Pakistani received a silver medal in the feature film category at the 2012 SAARC Film Awards.
• Rashid Farooqui received the award for best actor in the feature film at the 2012 SAARC Film Awards.
• Ramchand Pakistani won Best Film Award on Pakistan Media Award in 2010.

See also

• Gori temple, the site of Meri Maati song.
• Nagarparkar Bhodesar temple: the site of Tarrin Paunda song.

External links

• Ramchand Pakistani at IMDb
• Movie Review Ramchand Pakistani (2008)