Silent Waters cover art

Silent Waters Details

2003 Certificate 12
  • 70
  • from 336 members

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 .. Read more

Starring Kiron Kher, Amir Malik, Shilpa Shukla, Salman Shahid
Director Sahiba Sumar
Genres Drama, World Cinema

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Silent Waters

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.

Starring Kiron Kher, Amir Malik, Shilpa Shukla, Salman Shahid
Director Sahiba Sumar
Studio BFI VIDEO
Original title Khamosh Pani
Run time DVD: 1 hr 35 mins
Certificate Certificate 12
Genres Drama, World Cinema
Language DVD: Punjabi, Urdu
Subtitles DVD: English
Released Production year: 2003

To Rent:
DVD: 24 Apr 2006

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Rating breakdown

336 Member ratings
  • 100
48
  • 90
28
  • 80
58
  • 70
73
  • 60
57
  • 50
25
  • 40
12
  • 30
12
  • 20
13
  • 10
10

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by: Medusa from Manchester, England

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    • Silent Waters
      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, ...