MovieChat Forums > Zibahkhana (2007) Discussion > questions for anyone involved with this ...

questions for anyone involved with this film

posted 14 years ago by Psy-Ko
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I haven't gone through all the threads but it seems as if the user tarantan is involved with this flick. Maybe there are others here as well? anyway I'm your typical American brought up on American films and haven't been exposed to much else. With all the movies available now on the net I've caught up with American horror and started checking out what the rest of the world offers. Tonight I watched this movie and had some questions not only about the movie but also the culture. I hope you don't mind me asking.

First I was wondering about the language, I saw the post saying the mix of Urdu & English is the way many of the kids there talk. Is it because of American pop culture making it's way there? Do the kids there try to imitate it? Are American movies & music popular there? i thought it was great the way you showed their daily lives at the beginning, I think kids anywhere could relate to them.

also by using this mix do you think it alienates an audience or does it bring more people to see it? Is this mixture of language so prevalent that most will understand the movie? I would think some kids especially those not in the big cities might not have enough English to understand it. But maybe kids not in the big cities don't go to movies? Were the English parts subtitled when it was shown there?

It struck me that the kids, the times etc were much like it was here in America in the 80's. The kids are becoming less traditional and getting into music their parents don't like. The children are rebelling and the parents fear it. Is it really like that over there? In the 80's we had a lot of movies here that were basically, kids sneak to rock concert, kids get dead. i think it showed the parents fear of metal music and wondering if this movie reflects the same over there?

Lastly I think others have mentioned it almost seems like two movies, One about the polluted water and the zombies and another about the crazed backwoods family. Did anyone involved with the movie ever think about doing two separate movies with the two stories? I think a good pure zombie movie could come out of it! It just seemed to be an extra bit tagged onto this one.

Anyway thanks for a good flick, and exposing me to other cultures, making me ask questions is a good thing. I look forward to seeing more movies from Pakistan and especially from the group that made this one. Congrats to you all for a job well done.

Oh I did forget one thing, in one of the cartoon panels it said "and baby comes out to play" This struck me extremely funny and still makes me laugh when I think about it! Was it meant to be funny? Or maybe the translation made it into something besides what you meant it to be? By the way I liked the cartoon panels, kind of a tip of the hat to Creepshow, Tales from the crypt and all the old EC comics!

[–] tarantan 14 years ago

Hi, i am Omar Khan the writer and director of ZK - Hell's Ground.......first, thank you for your generous words. secondly i am going to attempt to answer (briefly) some of your questions...First I was wondering about the language, I saw the post saying the mix of Urdu & English is the way many of the kids there talk. Is it because of American pop culture making it's way there? Do the kids there try to imitate it? Are American movies & music popular there? i thought it was great the way you showed their daily lives at the beginning, I think kids anywhere could relate to them.
--- kids in the urban areas speak a mixture of urdu and english. keep in mind that we were a British Colony for a long period of time and our subsequent culture has been thus shaped to an extent. English remains the language of official work and instruction in a large percentage of schools just as it is in India and Bangladesh too. Also, language morphs and changes with time and simple utility has led to major incursions by the English language into urdu usage. What I mean is that the urdu language has amalgamated (is that the right word) several English words and phrases that are now as urdu as they are english....one that springs to mind is a simple word like "join" from the verb to join. its common to hear an entirely urdu sentence like "aapne humay join kiya" which includes an english word in it but is used as though it is urdu. also words like download etc.......these never existed in urdu or hindi...so their urdu or hindi versions are the english word.
The rich kids in the cities all over the world are bombarded by American media, American Pop music, and "american culture" sold through entertainment and it has a pervasive effect - maybe not good nor bad, but certainly it has an effect. Hairstyles, accents, clothes, fashions........a lot of urban teenage pop culture is influenced by what we aspire to............or what TV/Movies tell us to aspire to. YES, kids generally try to ape their western brethren, of this there can be little doubt. but then dont kids in France talk with an American accent these days too? one hundred years ago most of us talked like the brits......today its the Americans we try to ape, who knows tomorrow our grand children and theirs could be speaking with strong Chinese accents? American movies are very popular here, the language barrier is not a hurdle and people in Pakistan as elsewhere enjoy a good Hollywood blockbuster the same as anyone else. American music is popular among the urban english speaking "elite" but trickles down to the "middle income" bracket as well...not so popular in rural areas. thats the first question taken care of.....shall handle the next one shortly!

[–] Psy-Ko 14 years ago

First - I am honored that you took time to answer me, thank you!

Second - I apologize for my misconceptions of the country/culture/language

Third - I have enjoyed reading about it and learning and look forward to not only more movies from you but more posts!

LOL @ the british accents, First it was when the Beetles hit big, then later the punk scene. It seemed every punk had a british accent (some good, some not!) and just so you know you are not far off with saying the grandchildren may speak with Chinese accents because it's cool, but it won't take that long! There is a small subculture here in the U.S. mostly upper class white kids, who apes the Asian culture, mostly Japanese, they are known as Wapanese or Weeaboos and there's an entry in Wikipedia about it if you want a laugh :-)

http://encyclopediadramatica.com/Wapanese