Prof. makes film illustrating Indian struggle for liberty

By Ahmed Hamid
Daily Staff Reporter  On  March 23rd, 2001

Akbar Ahmed, the executive producer and co-writer of the film "Jinnah" and an associate anthropology professor at Princeton University, spoke this week about the making of his film with students and faculty. Ahmed"s 1999 film is based on Mohammed Ali Jinnah, Mahatma Gandhi"s counterpart who represented Muslims in the Indian struggle for independence from the British and founded the state of Pakistan. Steve Pastner, a University of Michigan adjunct associate anthropology professor, who has been in contact with Ahmed for 25 years, praised his perseverance in the making of "Jinnah" against what he called "absolutely hair raising logistics." "Akbar Ahmed has what Tom Wolf refers to as the "right stuff,"" he said. "The making of Jinnah is almost a miracle," Ahmed said in regard to the strenuous circumstances endured by those involved in the Jinnah project. The film crew faced a myriad of problems and opposition while filming in Pakistan, especially in terms of funding and bad press. "Money that had been committed in writing by the Pakistani government was refused to us," Ahmed said. A potential reason for the withholding of funds is the movie"s emphasis that Jinnah had created Pakistan as a secular state and was against mixing religion with politics. "This is clearly portrayed in the movie," Ahmed said. He also recalled a quote from one of Jinnah"s speeches in which he said, "Pakistan will not be run by a theocracy." But Pakistani rulers, especially since the military reign of General Zia-ul-Haq, have not upheld this belief. "If we show Jinnah as a man of belief, a man of democracy, the rulers of Pakistan are uncomfortable since Jinnah holds a higher place than them," Ahmed said. "There were also problems with the script and casting," he added, referring to attempts by the Pakistani press to shroud the movie in controversy. Ahmed said the press also overplayed the argument that Christopher Lee, the actor who portrays Jinnah, was not fit for the role since he played Dracula in a film more than two decades ago. "The newspapers particularly played a very nasty role," Ahmed said. "There were headlines that the women who are playing Fatima Jinnah and Mrs. Jinnah are prostitutes." But Ahmed said if the "Jinnah model" succeeds in the Muslim world things could change for the better and failure to notice it could result in the Taliban model taking hold. "Jinnah is the symbol of Pakistan," Ahmed said. "We first saw him in the movie Gandhi and are taking on and countering the negative images of Jinnah in such films." History Prof. Juan Cole said, ""Jinnah" the movie is a series of vignettes and retrospectives. The post-modernity of "Jinnah" distinguishes it from Attenborough"s "Gandhi."" In regard to the release of the film in the United States, Ahmed said he had talked to companies like Warner Brothers and MGM, and although they had liked the film they thought it was not fit for an American audience. "The big heads of MGM and Warner said that the U.S. is not ready for a film with a Pakistani, especially a Muslim hero, since the American public views Muslims as fanatics and terrorists," he said.

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