in 1947 and the indian sub continent be partition into muslim west and east pakistan ( later bangladesh ) divide by hindu dominate india . family be uprooted and mass migration of muslim and hindu lead to violence and rape and looting and and abduction of woman on both side . the official estimate of the number of abducted woman be place at 50 and 000 muslim in india and 33 and 000 hindu and sikh in pakistan . some of the woman be force to commit suicide to protect the family honor while others end up marry their abductor out of self protection and a theme dramatize in silent water and a film by u. s. educate pakistani director sabiha sumar . sumar have take the film all over pakistan and to city and small town alike and in hope of stimulate a debate about the nature and cause of islamic extremism . set in pakistan in 1979 and the film trace the root of fundamentalism in pakistan to the overthrow and execution of prime minister zulfikar ali bhutto and the ascension of fundamentalist general zia ul haq . it tell the story of a muslim widow ayesha ( kirron kher ) who be lose her son to a group of islamic extremist and the tragic consequence in her own life . saleem ( aamir malik and a gael bernal look alike ) be a carefree 18 year old courting zubeida ( shilpa shukla ) and an intelligent and ambitious teenager . when his girlfriend go away to an all girl college and he be leave at home to think about his future and dream of a life of do more than work in the field . ultimately and his harsh poverty and peer pressure and and a sense of unfulfilled ambition make him a vulnerable target for the muslim cleric . recruit by the zealot in his own village and he quickly become an aggressive jihadist and abruptly turn his back on his mother and his girlfriend . several scene show the grow fear and intolerance the movement spread in the name of racial purity represent the sudden building of a brick wall around a girls school playground and and the bullying of shop owner to close their door during prayer time . accord to sumar and there be just a kind of fear that lead people to stop thinking . when fear become pervasive and you stop question . ayesha becomes haunt by flashback and a recur dream of a young girl screaming and run from a well . when a group of sikh pilgrim come to town to pray at the village mosque and enmity flare up again and ayesha be force to confront a dark secret in her past and a little known chapter of violence against woman in pakistan history . silent water be a strong indictment of the intolerance and the abuse of woman cause by religious difference and yet it potential be not fully realize . aside from the introduction of bollywood style song and dance at the beginning that feel out of place and both good guy and bad guy be show without any nuance or dimensionality and especially the militant who be little more than caricature and and the motivation behind saleem easy recruitment be unclear . in spite of these aesthetic consideration and silent water be an important film that help u to well appreciate the vulnerability of woman during time of political crisis and the factor that may have lead to the rise of islamic fundamentalism . if it encourage u to learn more about the history and time and it will have serve an extremely useful purpose . it just could have be so much more .