Monday, July 13, 2009

Kabul Express

Finally after a few years of my friends persuading me into watching Kabul express , I watched it yesterday and all it took was bottle of Kingfisher , Chicken momos , Hot and spicy mutton kebabs and my 5.1 channel speaker system connected to my laptop to that I finally did watch this film.
Candidly speaking I enjoyed the movie thoroughly , it gave me an insight into Afghanistan for the first time in my life ; I have always wanted to know about Afghanistan , its culture , its people , life after the Taliban took over but probably never made any effort in that direction , but this film certainly gave me a direction.
It is a nice movie moving at a brisk pace about two journalists looking out for a story on the Taliban and how they land up in the hands of a Talib who forces them to drive all the way to the Pakistan border. The story moves around their experience through this journey, he telling about his life, his family and how he had been part of the Taliban without approving of their mindset.
There is a particular scene in the movie which is really moving in which the Talib called Imran here, when he goes out to see his daughter and does not meet him but just puts up some 300$ for her at a distance and leaves; that is because she hates him for being a Talib and he does not want to embarrass her.
I especially liked the accent of the Afghans through the movie; it made me smile every time I listened to some afghan speaking in his peculiar accent.
The movie travels through the serene places in the country now torn apart from war and shows glimpses of the natural beauty of the landscapes there.
The story moves around the Talibs life, who is an army commander serving as a Talib as part of his duty and how he is dumped at the end by his own people at the end when he approaches his country for shelter.

The movie made me think about the kind of lives that the people in Afghanistan have been living, under the dreaded regime , and how they themselves hate the Talibs and their rule.
Overall it was a thoroughly enjoyable movie , with beautiful backgrounds and landscapes and a nice story.