SC-S28/W2 – Movie Highlights | Based on True Events (Shah 2015)
Watch a film inspired by real-life stories or people. Example films: Hidden Figures, The Pursuit of Happyness, Hotel Rwanda, Erin Brockovich
For this week’s challenge, I chose to watch the Pakistani biographical film “Shah” (2015). It is completely based on the real life of Syed Hussain Shah, a boy who grew up on the streets of Lyari and faced challenges most of us can’t even imagine.Through years of hard struggles and courage, he rose from nothing and made history by winning an Olympic boxing medal for Pakistan after 40 long years.
Did the movie make you more curious about the real-life story?
The beginning showed a journalist who was tired of reporting the same ordinary news every day. She wanted to interview someone who had really achieved something for Pakistan. So she started researching many people, reading about different lives, until she discovered this boxer. When she saw his names, she remembered him and decided to make a documentary on his life. She took an appointment, visited the boxing club, and interviewed him.
In the beginning she even asked him, “How did you rise from the footpath to this level?”
At that moment, I became very curious because it was clear that this movie was based completely on his real liife struggles. I felt they were going to show his whole journey, and that made me even more excited to watch.
As the story continued, I kept getting more curious. They showed how he used to live on the footpath, how he struggled just to arrange one day’s meal, how he collected garbage and sold small things to survive. He lived completely alone and trained himself through all these hardships.
Then he met an uncle who helped him get a dail wage job. Even there, some boys teased him, but one day he saw boxing gloves and felt strongly that he wanted to learn boxing. That uncle then took him to a boxing club where he started practicing with full dedication. He trained day and night.
He used to arrange food sometimes he had no money at all, so he went to places where food was given to the poor. After eating there, he spent the whole day practicing. Slowly, after continuous struggle, he started winning matches.
Step by step, they showed everything from his hunger, homelessness, injuries, to finally winning an Olympic medal for Pakistan. Watching all this, my curiosity kept increasing: How will he face the next challenge? How did he survive this pain?
They also showed how many people cheated him in life. Even after doing so much for the country, he did not get the respect or money he deserved. His salary, pension many things were taken away from him through fraud. Many times he broke down emotionally, but he never gave up. He always said he wanted to earn respect and make Pakistan’s name proud.
Even though people hurt him and used him, he continued working hard. His dedication and passion were the strongest parts of the movie, and that is what kept me curious throughout the entire film.
Which scene or moment felt the most powerful or emotional?
There were many powerful scenes in the movie, but the most emotional one for me was the part after he won the Olympic medal. Even though he made Pakistan proud, the government officers only made big promisses to him in front of cameras. They promised to give him property so he could build a house and open a boxing club for poor children but in reality, they never gave him anything.
For many months, he kept going to different government offices, asking for his documents and the things he was promised. He was simply asking for his right, but they kept delaying and ignoring him. Even his monthly salary was pending for a long time, and he had to visit the officer again and again to request it. Instead of helping him, they insulted him. One officer even humiliated him and had him pushed out of the office. That moment was extremely painful to watch.
It was heartbreaking to see a national hero, who gave everything to his country, standing helpless with nothing in his hands. He didn’t even have enough money to pay the rent for his single small room. His landlard told him to leave the house if he couldn’t pay. He had no food, no savings, and no support. All his years of struggle and hard work felt ignored.
The scene became even more emotional when he finally broke down and cried. Watching him cry made my own eyes fill with tearss. I felt truly sad for him. I couldn’t believe how someone who did so much for Pakistan was treated so unfairly.
What lessons did you learn from the true story portrayed?
The biggest lesson I learned from this movie is that our background does not define our future. When I saw how Syed Hussain Sah lived on footpaths and still became a pride of Pakistan, I realized that we should never think we cannot do somethinz just because we have no resources. If we truly like something and feel passion for it, we must work hard and keep moving forward.
Hiis story taught me that we should never give up on our dreams. Opportunities may be small, but we must grab them and use them. Even when life becomes painful, we should stay strong. In the movie,z even when he had no food to eat and no place to stay, he never lost hope. He continued working day and night because he believed that nothing is impossible if he remains focused.
I also learned the importance of staying away from distractions. Many people tried to pull him towards the wrong path, offering him easy money or business through illegal ways, but he refused. He stayed focused on boxing only, because he knew that this was his true path. His determination and discipline were very inspiring.
Another lesson is sacrifice. He sacrificed comfort, happiness, and even basic needs just to chase his dream. Many people were unfair to him, hurt him, and did not support him, but he still stayed firm because he knew he wanted to change his life.
I also learned that even after achieving success, we should stay humble. When he finally succeeded, he opened academies and started teaching children with kindness. He didn’t show any pride; instead, he became even more gentle.
The biggest message for me is to believe in yourself. He always believed that he would not die on the footpath where he grew up instead, he would die as someone who achieved something in life. His trust in himself became his strength.
How did it make you feel about the people or time period it represented?
The movie showed a very hard and painful picture of that time, especially the area of Lyari where Syed Hussain Shah lived. The first thing I noticed was the extreme poverty. People were living on footpaths, in broken houses, and in unsafe streets. There were no facilities, no proper homes, no safety nothing.
It feeels like the government had completely forgotten that these people even existed. There were no schools, no job opportunities, and not even basic support like food or shelter. It made me feel very sad to see how difficult life was for people in that time and place.
The movie also showed that the government officers of that time didn’t care about real talent. Instead of supporting hardworking athletes, they cheated them. Hussain Shah didn’t even get the rights and benefits he deserved. His promised property, documents, and monthly payments were taken away by corrupt officers.
They treated him like he was a low-class person just because he came from poverty. This made me feel angry and disappointed at how unfair the system was.
Corruption was shown as a very big problem in that time period. Officers did whatever they wanted. They took bribes, cheated poor people, and supported the rich or criminals. Even the police was not doing its real job,, many officers were involved in corruption too. Criminals were roaming freely, and ordinary people were suffering every day. There was no justice, no safety, and no one to help the poor.
Seeing all this made me realize how tough life was in Lyari back then. People struggled even for two meals a day. Many were forced to beg or do dangerous work just to survive. But what touched me most was that Hussain Shah grew up in that same environment yet he decided that he would not stay stuck there. He wanted to rise above those conditions, make something of himself, and bring change for others.
This movie made me feel deep respect for the people of that time who fought through such harsh situations. It also made me admire Hussain Shah even more, because he didn’t let the darkness around him stop him. He wanted to leave that environment, become something great, and inspire others to come out of poverty too.
@ruthjoe
That's it from today’s blog. I hope you liked it. With best wishes. Now I would like to invite:
@neelofer @norat, @mesola to participate in this amazing contest.
Thanks a lot for reading.
Upvoted! Thank you for supporting witness @jswit.
Thank you so much for your support on my post 🤗🌼
Welcome to steemit challenge season 28.
Thank you for participating in movie Highlights week 2. Below are details of your post evaluation.
Yes the movie you choose is based on true life story of a biography. Weldone.
Am impressed with how you responded to question 2. Even though some details were missing from question 1. All other responses are acceptable. Cheers.
Total 8.6/10
Thank you so much dear @ruthjoe for reviewing my post. Yes, the movie is based on his real life story, and his journey was truly hard and emotional. I appreciate your feedback and support. Wishing you the best🤗🌼🌸