Cinema
Maula Jatt
Yunus Malik · 1979
Synopsis
In a village in the Punjab, Maula Jatt has renounced violence and watches over the peace of twenty-five villages. When Maakha, of the Natt clan, pursues a young girl, Moodha, Maula's friend, marks him on the face, and Maula orders that Maakha give his sister Daaro in marriage to Moodha. Daaro kills her brother for his cowardice. Released from prison, Noori Natt, looking for an opponent worthy of him, breaks Moodha's leg; Maula then takes up his axe, the gandasa, and swears to take Noori's leg.
Context
Released on 11 February 1979, under the martial law of General Zia ul Haq, the film was banned several times by the censors; its producer obtained repeated stays from the courts, and when an expurgated version was imposed, some cinemas reinserted the cuts, according to Scroll. Nasir Adeeb's screenplay starts from a short story by Ahmad Nadeem Qasmi, Gandasa; Sultan Rahi and Mustafa Qureshi play the two rivals, to a score by Master Inayat Hussain.
Who it is for
In Punjabi; a violent, talkative action film, whose lines have passed into everyday speech.
Prizes and reception
More than one hundred and twenty weeks in cinemas according to Scroll, despite the bans; the birth certificate of the Punjabi action film.