Taking advantage of this situation producer Sajjad Gul decided to make "International Guerillas", a totally fictitious film.
The film plot revolves around he film's protagonists are three Pakistani brothers, the older one being a police officer and the younger two, small-time hoodlums. The three brothers ultimately reconcile in the light of the controversy over The Satanic Verses: in a dramatized version of the Islamabad police firing on a mob on February 12, 1990 when five demonstrators were killed and 83 injured, their younger sister is killed by the police while demonstrating against Rushdie. The three brothers decide to avenge her and Islam's honor by hunting down and killing Rushdie. They receive the help of a female police officer in the course of their mission.
Salman Rushdie, played by Afzaal Ahmad, is portrayed in the film as a criminal mastermind, working for an international organization devoted to destroying Islam (as the Muslim's faith is an obstacle to widespread crime and immorality). He is depicted as hiding in the Philippines, guarded by a private army led by an Israeli general. Saeed Khan Rangeela stars as "Chief Batu Batu", Rushdie's main Jewish henchman. The fictionalized Rushdie routinely amuses himself by torturing and killing the mujahideens who regularly try to hunt him down. He also enjoys torturing Muslims by making them listen to readings of The Satanic Verses.
The protagonists arrive in the Philippines and start their hunt for Rushdie, who escapes them repeatedly thanks to the use of multiple decoys. In the course of one of their attempts to kill Rushdie, the three brothers appear wearing Batman disguises[4]. The Israeli general's sister is sent to seduce one of the Muslim guerillas but ends up falling in love with him and ultimately converting to Islam in the final scene.
The film ends with a gunfight opposing the four Pakistani "international guerillas" and Rushdie's army of Israeli henchmen. The heroes defeat the villains and, as Rushdie attempts to flee the scene, three giant Qur'ans appear in the sky and fire energy beams at the wicked writer, incinerating him.
The film was directed by Jan Mohammad, writer was Nasir Adeeb, Starring Afzal Ahmed, Mustafa Qureshi, Javed Shiekh, Ghulam Mohiyuddin, Babra Sharif, Neeli, Humayun Qureshi and Rangeela. Music by M.Ashraf.
International Guerillas was a double vision film made in Urdu and Punjabi.
A truly all and out commercial flick and nothing else. International Guerillas was a hit in Pakistan and was released in the UK after initially getting banned by the British Film Censor Board.
International Guerillas probably become the first Pakistani film to get a review in the prestigious Time magazine. The western media and the audience found the film rather hilarious and funny.
As the producer Sajjad Gul says "my film does not carry any facts and figures and is purely fictitious".
This is a report by the BBC on the film.
