By Kashif Ahmed
This month marks the 30th anniversary of the Fatwa issued by Ayatollah Khomeini, in response to the publication of Salman Rushdie’s blasphemous, anti-Muslim novel, The Satanic Verses.
Forward March proudly presents a grind-house classic, Pakistani cult cinema at its best: International Guerrillas!
Directed by Jan Mohammad, the film follows a sibling trio of Mujahadeen on a mission to assassinate Salman Rushdie. Starring popular Pakistani actors Mustafa Qureshi, Ghulam Mohiudin and Javed Shaikh, as brothers…Mustafa, Ghulam and Javed, International Guerrillas clocks in at an epic 2 hours 46 minutes and has to hold some kind of record for the longest pre-credit sequence (50 minutes!).
Now I happen to know that this movie bothers Salman Rushdie to this day: Probably because its the most accurate depiction of his character, and gleefully wrecks his delusional pomposity / sense of self-importance, like a bull in a China shop. I mean its one thing to be told off by Johanna Lumley on national television, but quite another to be done like this in your own language and by your own people.
Salman Rushdie is played to the hilt by Afzal Ahmad, who looks absolutely nothing like him, but effortlessly channels every ounce of smugness & lecherous, sneering sleaze. International Guerrillas (International Gorillay) isn’t about hellfire and brimstone, but about showing Salman Rushdie up for what he actually is; a smarmy stooge for Jewish extremism, a wannabe Bond villain restricted by the confines of his own mediocrity. Less Dr. No, more Dr. Evil.
International Guerrillas is a film that laughs at the Devil, and does him in with a hypnotic kaleidoscope of song, dance, colour, comedy, fire, fury and righteous indignation. Salman Rushdie hates this film with a passion. And for that reason alone, its worth a watch.
International Guerrillas opened to rave reviews in 1990…
“A distorted, incompetent piece of trash”.
Salman Rushdie“Great movie”.
Everyone in Bradford“A searing, larger-than-life indictment that will haunt Rushdie’s dreams forever”.
Kashif Ahmed“Come on, 5 out of 5, because it’s extreme.”
Nikita, Nanarland“A crude thriller inspired by the controversy over Salman Rushdie’s 1988 novel The Satanic Verses”.
Michael Brooke, British Film Institute“The film is maniacal high farce and a laugh-a-minute caper as the three Mujahids go undercover to try to discover the evasive Rushdie even showing up in Batman outfits on one occasion to outwit their nemesis…An historic Lollywood masterwork not to be missed at any cost”.
Omar Khan, The Hotspot Online
Forward March 