Jinnah (1998)

Director:

Jamil Dehlavi

Writers:

Akbar Ahmed (writer)
Jamil Dehlavi (writer)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Tagline:

He fought for justice, and made Pakistan.

Plot:

The story of Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.

Plot Keywords:

Pakistan | Muslim | Political | British | Family Relationships

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Christopher Lee	...	Mohammed Ali Jinnah
James Fox	...	Mountbatten
Maria Aitken	...	Edwina
Shashi Kapoor	...	Narrator
Richard Lintern	...	Jinnah (Younger)
Shireen Shah	...	Fatima Jinnah
Robert Ashby	...	Nehru
Indira Varma	...	Ruttie Jinnah
Sam Dastor	...	Gandhi
Shakeel	...	Liaquat Ali Khan
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Nafees Ahmed	...	Younger Dina
Vaneeza Ahmed	...	Dina (Older)
Roger Brierley	...	Judge
Rowena Cooper	...	Lady Willingdon
James Curran	...	Colonel Knowles
Vernon Dobtcheff	...	Lord Willingdon
Michael Elwyn	...	Sir Cyril Radcliffe
Ian Gelder	...	The English police officer
Christopher Godwin	...	Recruitment officer
John Grillo	...	Sir Dinshaw Petit
Talat Hussain	...	Refugee
Stephen Mortlock	...	English Reporter
John Nettleton	...	General Gracie
David Quilter	...	Porrit
Khayyam Sarhadi	...	Nishtar
David Sterne	...	Birtwhistle
Marc Zuber	...	Muhammad Iqhal

Also Known As:

Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Pakistan: English title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

UK | Pakistan

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Filming Locations:

Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan

Company:

Dehlavi Films

Trivia:

In a press conference at the Brussels Fantastic Film Festival 2002, Christopher Lee referred to his performance in this film as being "by far the best thing I've ever done".

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In the scene where Jinnah visits Karachi after independence radiators of split air conditioners can be seen.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Dare to Dream (1998)

Top quality stuff for the first time from Pakistan!

Jinnah was more than a mere politician. He was the most important phenomenon in the history of the Muslims of India. He almost single handedly changed the course of history and created one of the greatest Muslim countries of the world; Pakistan. And he did that without shedding a drop of blood throughout the movement of freedom. He did that through his sheer will power and political genius. ‘Jinnah the Movie' is tribute to this great personality of the previous century.

The film took a long time in making and was surrounded with all sorts of rumors and controversies, but the end product is definitely very impressive. Its narration is quite different from the usual biopics. Instead of telling a usual birth to death story ‘Jinnah the Movie' takes a different approach. It travels back and forth in time highlighting important events in Jinnah's life that helps the viewer understand Jinnah the person and Jinnah the leader. Although the deviation from the traditional technique of storytelling gives ‘Jinnah the Movie' an artistic touch but it becomes rather hard for a commoner to grasp the story line. In a country whose literacy rate isn't something to be proud of, the producers probably should have stuck to the usual methods but they took a brave risk by taking an alternative route. They preferred artistic values to the commercial success and they should be appreciated for that.

Editing and art direction are the highlights of ‘Jinnah'. Camera work is brilliant and some of the shots reflect the director's command in his field. Production quality is way above any sub continent film and almost equals the standard of any Hollywood production. The producers deserve a pat on the back for creating such high quality production with a shoe string budget. Christopher Lee gives probably the best performance of his life and Shashi Kapoor deserves special applaud for working in a film that negates many of the India's political beliefs. Maria Aitken as Edwina and Shireen Shah as Fatima Jinnah play their roles perfectly. But Richard Lintern as young Jinnah was most impressive of the whole lot. His performance is really top class and his portrayal of Jinnah was as close to life as possible. A host of actors from Pakistan television have also performed in minor roles although the pick of them is Talat Hussain who shines in his cameo appearance.

All in all ‘Jinnah the Movie' is a tribute to the great leader who, though called snobbish and arrogant, was respected by all his contemporaries for his integrity and honesty. The film answers many questions related to Jinnah, Pakistan and its creation and one must admit that it does that without damaging the artistic quality of the film. Irrespective of its box office performance and the number of awards it garners ‘Jinnah the Movie' is the most important chapter in the history of Pakistani cinema.