I tried to do as much research on the man, Mr. Ali jinnah, before i wrote this review. and even though i was not very well versed with the history of Pakistan, (in fact i wasn't even sure where Pakistan was exactly before seeing this movie), what i found was a series of reports by great biographers and historians, who have instead of being factual have decided to be emotional to the point of being ridiculously biased. i still, do not, know the reason why jinnah was hated by so many, because frankly no one seems to be able to prove a valid point, its all just bickering and bitterness.
However, i have gained respect for the man, in his unflinchingness, and "man of steel" attitude, a man who would bow to no one, and would never stoop below his standards and principles, if that made him cold and calculated, fine, at least he had fiber. Mountbatten is quoted as saying about Jinnah; "...That son of a Bit--, could turn you to stone with one look..." sounds like he was scared?
but its much easier to praise a movie like "gandhi" whose hero is such a simple case study, perfect in his nature and morals..etc etc... thats not a very hard case to sell, no wonder people liked it, it appealed to their sensibilities. Jinnah, may have been a man of steel, cold, unflinching, calculated, but how much do we really know of the man? we have on one hand reports by British journalists like Mr. Payne, whose "eyewitness" was just a bunch of idle thoughts and gut feelings with no real substance, but tainted by the inherent fear of the man (Jinnah), and on the other hand by embittered Indian writers who saw this man break up their country for an ideology they could never even hope to understand.
Jinnah was much deeper, i believe, a man who refused treatment for chronic tuberculosis, cause he believed that the Moslem's would never get their homeland, if he was viewed as weak, therefore he kept on going, steadfast, strong, like a locomotive, and in the end he died for it. No one knows the real Jinnah, but many have formed opinions based on 'stories' with no real truth behind them.
i read a excerpt from an article written by an Indian author, who wrote that in a rally held in 1930's, Jinnah was giving a speech in English and almost no one in the predominantly Hindi speaking crowd understood what he was saying, but when a British journalist queried a bystander on this he replied; "Its Mohammed Ali Jinnah, we trust him, whatever he says is right"
i don't think a man described in an unkind and biased history, as something close to Hitler, would command such respect and admiration from his people. He was, passionate, unflinching, upright, in short... a Great Man.
Matthew Davison New Jersey.
