Credits just rolled and I don't have words to describe what I'm feeling, the tension is still reverberating in my room. It will take some time for me to detach myself from the movie. Saim has the artisitc finesse to pull off a grand celebration of cinema and it's evident throughout the movie but what's surprising is his ability to understand people, particularly women, and their inner turmoil. He, like the protagonist of the film, is the antithesis of the old school Hollywood definition of a man (the definition which could pass off james bond attempting to rape as a harmless masculine humor) . There are too many yet not enough perfectly crafted scenes where the tension of a lahori household is transferred smoothly onto the 70 mm screen. A brilliant screenplay and use of camera, the flat composite shots and wes andersonesque sense of harmony and balance even in the asymmetrical shots of chaotic streets of lahore, the deafening moments of silence throughout the movie. But scratch all that, what I'm surprised, most, is how seamlessly embedded is the social commentary, subtle or otherwise, in the drama and the tension among the characters throughout the movie, a rarity coming from a pakistani filmmaker. Haider, the film's protagonist, the hero, the antihero, the calming smile among all the chaos, is acted brilliantly by Junejo. His inner turmoil can be felt on the screen all throughout the movie, and, especially towards the end, and particularly, in his confrontation with his brother. What a movie. (I've never written a review in my life, I'm most likely incoherent in this one as well. Apologies.

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• The 1st hospital scene where the nurse is casual about the delivery of the child, enot fussing about the change of the family's usual doctor. It reflects how the childbirths has become a mechanical process and has desensitized the medical community in south asian countries over the last few decades because of overpopulation (one of the reasons for that is waiting for a boy child)
• The scene where the doctor informs nucchi's fourth child is a girl and they are surprised as they were told it's a boy in the ultrasound. This scene can only be understood if you're informed of the stark realities of the female foeticide in pakistan, then you'll know how misinforming the father/family of the gender of the child in case of a girl is an accepted practice among the medical community as a safeguard against ff.
• The scene where Nucchi tells Saleem how they all have contributed in Mumtaz ending her life and they all know it inside and saleem suddenly starts shaking even though he is angry. In any other regular setting if nucchi would have shouted at him he would have continued to rage until she shutting up or him hitting her but, here, he didn't do it because, as nucchi said, he knows it inside that he's responsible for the tragedy and is driven by his guilt. This is exactly how men in this part of the world functions, driven purely by their own guilt/moral compass. They are restricted of their animal behavior only if they know it inside of them and nor if it's wrong.
• Fayaaz Aunt in the 1st half of the movie can be understood as a regressive villainous figure when she complains of Haider for the cut out piece and says it's a shame if people got to know about his job. But in the later half, we see, she's ready to sidestep public gossiping to take care of Haider's father by living with him. This is a very revolutionary act for a widow in a pakistani society yet it seemed an easy decision to make for Fayyaz. You'll think this contrasts with her earlier persona but it isn't actually, she can still be pretty regressive even after taking a progressive turn. This is because her progressive thoughts are out of her volition but she, otherwise, is conditioned brutally by the regressive patriarchal society that she doesn't realize the ideological divergence between her thoughts and opinions on different things. It's a laborious task for her to be fully emancipated.
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