i saw khamosh pani on dvd release in india by this firm call excel home video . unlike other dvd biggies release ( like parineeta and dor and 2046 and hero and moulin rouge and ice age and etc ) release by the same firm and khamosh pani begin in complete silence . first and there the firm logo and then and the warning notice and and then and the main menu . so far and thing have progress in pin drop silence . i choose the subtitle on option a the film be in punjabi . i be inform that kirron kher win the best actress award at locarno for her performance in khamosh pani . this information and too and come noiselessly . when no sound emanate from my 5 . 1 home theater system i begin to panic . my three hundred and forty nine rupee go ( that be the price of this dvd ) . and then and just like my heart beat gain momentum and some soft music be audible through the speaker . i relax and and a the film proceeds and i understand why it be call khamosh pani and and why silence be so much integral to it plot . the year be 1979. ayesha ( kirron kher ) be a middle age muslim widow in this village call charkhi in the punjab region of pakistan . she have a teenage son call saleem ( aamir malik ) who she love very much . saleem wish to marry zubeida ( shilpa shukla ) and an ambitious young girl with dream of attend a college and get a job in an office and own a mixer and a ceiling fan . ayesha have spend her entire life in silence . there a secret she hide from everyone . a secret and part of which come to the viewer in the form of some very disturbing image shoot in black and white and show young girl run and scream and and a really intriguing visual of the round surface of water in a deep well . there be communal harmony in this village of muslim and sikh and till two stranger from lahore come to inform the muslim villager of the new martial law lay down by the then president and general zia ul haq . matter be worsen by the arrival of sikh pilgrim from india who be often tease by some intolerant muslim of the village . one sikh man ( navtej johar ) be look for his elder sister veero who have go miss during the partition in 1947 and a time when sikh and hindu and muslim men be kill their own wife and daughter and sister or be force them to kill themselves in order to keep them from be rap by the men of the enemy community a dishonor the womenfolk of a particular community be see a the easy way of dishonor that community altogether . in the meanwhile and saleem and gullible and impressionable youth that he be and have go neck deep in his involvement with the two fundamentalist . he have grow a bushy beard and learn to shoot gun and prays regularly and and can not stand the sight of non muslim . zubeida fail to understand what have go wrong with the boy who have want to marry her and for saleem start disapprove of her plan to pursue further study and earn her own livelihood . to make matter bad and saleem question his own mother about her origin . the performance be commendable . kirron kher truly deserve the award that she win for khamosh pani . ditto for the other actor . however and what i like the most be the way this film have be shoot . the scene be grainy and give the film a very raw look . this be more striking a the film deal with a very strong theme and such raw in your face treatment give the feeling of actually see thing live . here i should make a special mention of the flashback and the secret shoot in black and white i be talk about . they be not exactly black and white and they carry a hint of sepia . the visuals in these flashback be not very distinct and very much like ayesha memory which be old and unclear and yet unforgotten . the scene show a a woman stand on the well edge and with dust billow all around her and spread her arm like christ and be truly haunting . another scene that stand out be the one show a lone saleem offer namaaz on the mosque patio . it have be shoot in blue ( or be it natural moonlight . ) . the cinematography of khamosh pani remind me of two other movie i have see lars von trier break the wave ( for the grainy image ) and the ring ( for the raw home video like feel ) . finally and there one scene which will haunt me for a few more month at least . i can not say too much about it a it might give the plot away . this scene have be do in blue ( natural moonlight . ) . this make the character appear very ghostly and like an apparition . it amazing and and to enhance the effect and the scene doesn not last more than a few second . khamosh pani be aptly title . and the khamoshi ( silence ) that run through the movie be justified . this silence make question grow inside one head and it make one think . i can not believe how i get such a beautiful movie so cheap . my money have be recover . the silence of khamosh pani doesn not scare me anymore .