This gorgeously shot feature chronicles the lives of a mother and her teenage son in a rural Pakistani village in 1979. Saleem (Aamir Malik) is an aimless youth in love with local beauty Zubeida (Shilpa Shukla), and adored by his widowed mother, Ayesha (Kiron Kher). Life seems to flow in measured, bucolic beauty, but old and new trauma looms because of a pair of fundamentalist Muslim insurgents staying in the village. Their zealotry ignites a macho spark in Saleem and soon he is rejecting his mom for her Sufi philosophy, and Zubeida for seeing him outside of wedlock. Things get even worse with the arrival of some Sikh pilgrims, one of whom wants to find his lost sister. Anchored by Kiron Kher's moving performance, SILENT WATERS gradually evolves from a dreamy portrait of rural life (replete with Bollywood-esque wedding merriment) to a brutal history lesson. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the political time and place of this film are likely to be horrified to learn of the unconscionable cruelties visited on Muslim and Sikh women during the 1947 partitioning of Pakistan and after. Activist director Sabiha Sumar lets the story speak for itself, making this film both a moving, sociologically fascinating drama and a harrowing indictment of gender-based oppression.
