Khamosh Pani (Silent Waters)
Khamosh Pani is set in 1979 in Charkhi, a village in the Punjab province of Pakistan. The film centers around Ayesha (Kirron Kher), a friendly, middle aged widow, as her son Salim(Late Aamir Malik) transforms from a simple-minded teenager into an Islamic fundamentalist.
Released in 2003, Khamosh Pani picked up a slew of awards (including the Golden Leopard for best picture and the award for best actress during its world premiere at the Locarno International Film Festival, and for best screenplay at the Kara Film Festival in Karachi). The German-French-Pakistani co-production has also been screened at various other film festivals and educational institutions around the globe.
The film aims to potray how women bear the most burnt in situations of conflicts created by men. Women have always been seen as an object of defeat or victory in wars. Sexual violence against the women from the enemy’s side has always been used as a political tool in conflicts. All sides’ try to protect their women’s chastity from the enemy side, even if it means driving their women to death.
During the Partition in 1947, many women commited suicide or were killed by the male members of their families to protect the “honour” of their family and community from the men of the other side. Ayesha had escaped this fate when her father had instructed her mother and sister to fall into the well and commit suicide. She was then abducted by some Muslim men and later married one of them.
The film opens to a pan of the village where Ayesha and her friend, Shabbo are drying clothes. The cinematography by Ralph Netzer paints a colourful picture of the calm Chakri as it later descends into chaos. Ayesha’s flashbacks of the horrors of ‘47 are initially edited to be abrupt and short and as things worsen they become more detailed.
Ayesha spends the day doing chores with her neighbours, looking after the household and giving Quran lessons to girls. The initial scenes reflect the everyday life in the village which has somewhat of a relaxed environment, men and women intermingling, people dancing and singing at the wedding etc. We also see Salim and his lover, Zubeida(Shilpa Shukla) meeting and sharing intimate moments in secret.
This environment starts changing as the “harbingers of the Islam” (two men from Lahore) are introduced to the villagers. The two men bring the message of Pakistan’s new de facto ruler General Zia ul Haq and his policy of Islamisation of Pakistan. We see signs of this new process as the girls’ school’s walls are made taller, the shops are made to shut forcibly during the time of Namaz and humorous jabs at the political establishment being silenced along with smaller details like the length of women’s sleeves being measured to be longer.
Salim is unemployed and rejects the usual, menial jobs that many in his village choose. Job prospects for the youth, particularly in rural areas, are largely non-existent. Such a combination provides fertile ground for the Islamic fundamentalist recruiters seeking young men. When Ayesha confronts her son about his newfound company he replies saying that it’s given him “direction”. Going to the city to attend Islamic lectures and chanting slogans with his peers gives him the illusion that he is now respected in society. Salim distances himself from Zubeida as he learns that love marriages aren’t deemed respected in their new circle. Zubeida, an educated and ambitious girl, even tries to warn him about the evil intentions of the political men from Lahore but he doesn’t pay heed.
Amidst this, India and Pakistan sign an agreement to allow Sikh pilgrims from India to visit their places of worship in India. Among the Sikh pilgrims, is Jaswant who is. looking for his sister, Veero who was left behind during Partition. Upon discovering that Veero is now living as Ayesha, he requests her to come with him to India as their father is on his deathbed. Ayesha rejects this request and in a later scene gives a powerful monologue rejecting society’s notion of the homogeneity in religion.
Soon, the word of Ayesha being from an ‘infidel’ family spreads around the village. Salim tries defending her in front of his companions but they shut him up. In an attempt, to “silence everyone” in the village, he tells Ayesha to publicly denounce her previous religion and declare that she is Muslim. She rejects this with a cold silence. She does not want to define her faith and identity according to society’s rigid structures.
As a result, she’s made to feel isolated in her community. She bears it at first but the final blow comes when Shabbo hesitantly tells Ayesha not to come to her daughter’s wedding.
She commits suicide by jumping into the well.
The well remains a mute spectator of conflicts caused by the politicisation of religion. Its ‘silent waters’ is what Ayesha runs away from in 1947 only to come back to the place to end her life.
Paromita Vohra’s screenplay effectively weaves together the climate of 1947 and 1979 and the impact on communities, relations and individuals.
Salim’s response to Ayesha’s death is an interesting one. He places a picture of his younger self in her trunk, that contains other objects that she had preserved, including a copy of the Sikh scripture. He then proceeds to float the trunk away in the river. He then hands over Ayesha’s locket to Zubeida. His actions suggest that he finally detaches himself from his previous persona and is ready to embrace politicized Islamic extremism.
As we see later, in 2003, he has moved up the ranks of a political party and his interview on the subject of democracy and Islam. It seems that his views of Pakistan and Islam have only hardened over time.
On the connection between Ayesha and Zubeida, Sumar says, “[When Salim gives Ayesha’s locket to Zubeida, he] recognises the spirit in Zubeida to be the same as the spirit of his mother…” Both the women have lost him to the same evil. Ayesha, a woman with great survival instincts, adapted to her surroundings until the odds lined up against her. Zubeida represents the next generation, with greater strength and determination to carry on the fight. She manages to fulfill her ambitions as she shifts from Chakri to the city. Ayesha, lives on, in Zubeida’s dreams.
Khamosh Pani is a story that is always relevant in all parts of the world as intersections of class, nationalities identity(or lack thereof) and other factors continue to fuel venomous fundamentalism around the world. As a result, most often the women in these communities are the most affected. In the words of Sumar herself, “Ayesha represents a woman caught in a conflict and as such she represents a universal dilemma. She is the woman in Bosnia, in Sri Lanka, in Afghanistan, in Iraq…”
