Josh (2013) User Reviews

Josh wins hearts and minds in Toronto!

[ApnaHub · 8/10 · 12 June 2013]

Cinema is a visually powerful medium. It allows a craftsman to instill thought provoking understanding of some aspects of the social environment around us. A successful filmmaker effectively builds this larger than life cinematographic experience with the use of images, sounds and then post processes and edits them to create a view that sparks an intellectual thought process of emotions.

On June 8, 2013, in Toronto, we witnessed Pakistani independent filmmaker Iram Parveen Bilal's endeavor, Josh (English title: Against The Grain) that left us with an experience of empathic closeness to the situations and circumstances portrayed on the screen, nostalgia took over as beautifully shot images of Karachi ran frame by frame on the large screen.

Josh has an interesting ensemble of some of the finest actors from the Pakistani entertainment industry, who include Aamina Sheikh, Mohib Mirza, Khalid Malik, Navin Waqar, Adnan Shah Tipu, Salim Mairaj, Kaiser Khan Nizamani, Nyla Jafri, Parveen Akbar, Ali Rizvi and Faizan Haqquee.

Josh is the story of a privileged woman whose life is shattered in a single moment. It is the story of a woman in search for a dangerous truth. It is the story of the biggest challenge to Pakistan's still reigning feudalism: the country's youth. The film explores the internal debates the young are struggling with, and how solutions can be attainable if and when they stand united.

Aamina Sheikh plays the character of Fatima, who is affluent, socially aware and leading a happy life. Fatima's contribution towards society is by teaching at school. Fatima is very close to her nanny Nusrat Bi, whom she considers like her mother. How events related to Nusrat Bi would impact and change the course of life for Fatima is to be seen in Josh.

As the camera sets rolling, right from the first frame, one can't miss and not comment on the brilliant camera work and cinematography. The locations, shots and above all the way Karachi has been captured had some viewers commenting, "I want to go back and see Karachi again…"

While there is no doubt that it is the brilliance of visual display that initially mesmerizes a film viewer, what makes the cinematographic experience a smooth sailing journey is the strength of the characters portrayed. Everything about Josh looked real, be it scenes from inside an affluent café to the slums or shanty towns, Iram Parveen Bilal has demonstrated her mastery on the art of creating a visually effective experience.

Josh delivers the message that one person's passion can stir others from their apathy and become a catalyst of change for others. You can't help others unless they are willing to bring about a change around their lives, that's the catalyst we see at work in Josh.

The music of Josh is by veteran musician and composer, Shahi Hasan and his partner Noor Lodhi. In addition to that, the award winning British composer Andrew T. Mackay has been the soul of the score. Top it all with Pakistan's rocking asset Ali Azmat. His song "Na re na …" perfectly blends with reinforcing message of Josh. As Iram Bilal puts it, "I just loved Na re na…. the fact that this song is in the film is an honor, he's a great person and great artist.. we are honored…"

If we are to talk about individual performances, there isn't a single question mark on the performances delivered by the entire cast. Be it versatile names like Kaiser Khan Nizamani or Mohib Mirza to Khalid Malik, everyone made the film look so real. Watch out for the character Gulsher played by Adnan Shah Tipu, he leaves a thought provoking impression of what this character's mind is going through! Responding to our question regarding Aamina Sheikh's selection for the role, Iram Bilal pointed out, "we auditioned her, there were couple of people we were considering, she took the audition away…"

In the end, Josh is not an average Lollywood dance, romance or action flick. It is a thought provoking film that actually triggers different questions in your mind. The engaging Q&A session with Iram Parveen Bilal after the movie was a proof of the powerful impact Josh left.

The audience members had variety of aspects of the film to talk about. Some felt nostalgic, some commented about the close to reality characterization, while some spoke about the struggle of common folk under feudalism, while others commented about the food crisis and how the powerful few could end up controlling our grain!

Watch Josh this Eid and Youm e Azaadi (Pakistan's National Day) to celebrate Independence through unity. It is a brilliant film!

One of the best movies I've seen

[twangark · 8/10 · 18 June 2014]

Artistic, mind-boggling, immaculate, simply said: beautiful.

Iram Bilal, you have turned something important yet common and overlooked into a piece of art worth watching again and again, congratulations.

Acting, dialogue, cinematography are not the only things good about this film, the message it conveys is what tops everything else. Injustice is fought with courage, quotes of Allama Iqbal on the onset of this movie sets the tone for what is to come. Light is shed on how the prerequisites for a just society are missing in the rural and urban classes alike.

Fatima a schoolteacher played by Aamina Sheikh looks to find justice in a harsh and unjust society. Anything further said about the plot will take away the experience of watching this film for the first time.

City Of God

[aurangzab2005 · 7/10 · 16 September 2014]

Josh - is kind of an experience we usually don't get from the media world. a faith, a lost hope that even the person, who dsnt belong to a specific community, when tries to approach something peacefull & useful for the betterment of people, the people rise with them.

Its the 1st movie of Iram Bilal & she proved herself in the directorial abilities.The storytelling was a little extended which made it alittle rough but it got covered by the acting skills of Aamina Shiekh. I liked her from the 3 years old show MAIN ABDUL QADIR HON. Yeah she is one sharped actress & fulfilled the character of Fatima in pretty good way. Actor Mohib Mirza & Adnan Shah acted pretty decently. Cinematographer Nausheen Dadabhoy succeeds in capturing the very essence of Karachi, conveying that imperceptible vitality which is hard to describe with words.

Thus the movie not a feast treat but it provides u a moment to think about what a mans duty should be,even with the slightest resources. Time to think about our society, our culture, our Pakistan.

Give JOSH a try - its worth it.

A beautiful film

[abidhussain37 · 10/10 · 25 January 2014]

It is the first time in my life that I watched two Pakistani movies within a week. First was Waar and then Josh. Pakistani movies in the past have been mostly disappointing, technically substandard with weak plots and over acting. Things are now definitely looking up.

Watching Josh was a beautiful experience. It is an uplifting story of a middle class professional city woman who made a stand to seek the truth about the death of her nanny. After discovering that she was murdered by a powerful and wealthy landlord of the area, she showed great courage, to seek justice against overwhelming odds, whilst helping the poor who traditionally relied upon the landlord. To seek justice she put herself in harms way.

The acting was superb with Aamina Sheikh giving a very powerful emotional and gripping performance and she was excellently supported by the whole cast. The camera work cinematography and background music was awesome. Kudos to Iram Bilal for directing such a beautiful film.

As a British Pakistani I am amazed at the quality of the films that I have seen recently and I am hopeful and pray that this trend continues. Josh was not mind numbing superficial look good feel good film with lots of songs and dances interspersed but rather gritty evocative and thoughtful with a powerful message. The message was truly uplifting, a confident educated bright women taking a stand a stand for justice in a male dominated society and succeeding against the odds.

I was disappointed that the theatre was half full for this wonderful film and that it should have received a lot more publicity than it did. It only has two shows in the weekend in selected cinemas in the UK which clearly is not enough!

Competent but forgettable

[The-Social-Introvert · 6/10 · 6 January 2017]

Josh concerns a schoolteacher, Fatima, who goes in search of her missing nanny, Nusrat, in the village where the woman lives. It is eventually discovered that she has died after having been apparently run over by a car, but Fatima suspects foul play and has her fingers pointed at the village leader Khan. Meanwhile she attempts to reopen a food bank for children that used to be run by Nusrat, a function that directly takes away power from the ever-watching Khan. Slowly but surely she rallies the villagers in a crusade against the corrupt Khan and motivates them into standing up for themselves.

Now Josh is a competent film. It's not world changing but it does its job. Personally I feel the story does not have enough meat to it; it lacks a certain punch to make it fully connect with me. I know it's a true story and it's definitely one worth telling but maybe it would have been better as a TV special or something. I don't know. There just isn't enough oomph to it for me to call it a good film. It's decent, nothing more.

The acting is pretty good all round. There are no faults I find in any of the performances. The acting, unlike most modern Pakistani movies, doesn't feel 'movie-like' but realistic and nuanced. There's not a lot of exposition and more is implied than said or shown. For example there's a scene where Nusrat is being violated and it's unclear whether she's being tortured, raped or merely harassed. On its own it's a very disturbing scene, and part of its brilliance is the ambiguity of what these thugs are doing to her. The impact of the scene is lessened though near the end of the film where it is told to the audience through a news reporter that she was indeed raped. More on the ending later.

Director Iram Parveen Bilal did well to showcase the unsure tension- filled atmosphere of the village once the protagonist gets there. The cinematography is also very nice for the most part. Things are a tad formulaic during the sense in Fatima's home town with her privileged media friends.

Josh is a story about power, individualism and fighting the statues quo. At times it sides dangerously close into becoming a preachy girl-power fest but manages to keep on the rails. You get the idea when watching that Iram is making a commentary on the flaws of modern day Pakistan but, like the film itself, it's a competent message but not quite strong enough to be a heavy hitter. I did like the opening line though, something about the modern Muslim's prayers and deeds being present, but his heart absent.

By far the best thing about this movie was the character Gulsher. One of Khan's elite enforcers, he is shown to have a complicated relationship with Nusrtat. It's implied he used to be her student and she possibly even fed him with the food bank. He's torn between his respect for her and his loyalty to Khan. Once she dies he is deeply affected and remains distant and stressed throughout the remainder of the film. He even helps a kidnapped Fatima escape, in a sense. It's not clear whether he had any part in the beating and rape of Fatima.

Once element that does not work for me is the ending. Throughout the film Fatima attempts to use her friends in the media to point their cameras at Khan and his mafia-like control over the village, in order to push lawful sanctions and topple his regime. But just as the film builds steam with the political side it kind of just cuts to a couple of quick news reports telling us that Khan is going to be put away for a long time. And what's with Khan's son being shot accidentally by the rebel villagers who attempt to rescue Fatima after she gets kidnapped by Khans thugs? Unless that happened in real life I don't see what this adds to the movie, aside from serving as a distraction for the villains so Fatima can escape.

Refreshing movie

[sodacrunch · 10/10 · 3 September 2014]

I haven't seen too many Pakistani films but I am definitely familiar with Bollywood films. This movie had my full attention during the entire movie. It was totally refreshing from seeing so many cheap/garbage Bollywood and Pakistani TV-shows. This movie was raw, didn't have cheap over-acting and the story was captivating. I wish to see more films like this! The movie wasn't too long compared to typical desi movies, but if it was, I would have embraced it. I admire how the main person behind this movie had different roles such as writing and directing. I watched this with my wife and she enjoyed it as well. I plan on sharing this movie with my family and friends.

A small-scale art movie that is beautifully directed by Iram Bilal.

[ad_upclose · 9/10 · 19 January 2015]

Josh is a small-scale art movie that is beautifully directed by Iram Parveen Bilal. I am proud of the fact that the film's director is a woman and also features a strong female lead; a very good performance from Aamina Sheikh.

Iram shows great maturity in handling the transitional scenes, edits and general framing of the shots. The film is under two hours and feels just as compact with an impactful story. The feudal system is the crux of the narrative and while it's not greatly dissected, the message is concise and effective.

There has been a lot of talk about the revival of Pakistani cinema with the likes of Waar taking the box-office by storm. But it is the smaller and more poignant films like Josh that I would rather get behind and recommend for its beautiful execution.