WhenSir Christopher Leepassed away in 2015, the entertainment world lost one of the mostvenerated British actors of all time. While most associated with his iconic performances in Count Dracula in a host of horror films, Lee logged an unfathomable 288 credits in his illustrious career. Yet, even after portraying such iconic fictional characters as Count Dooku in theStar Warsfranchise and Saruman inThe Lord of the Rings, fans may be surprised to learn that Lee’s favorite self-performance comes from a little-known movie entitledJinnah.
Released in 1998,Jinnahis a British-Pakistani biographical epic that concerns the rise and fall of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan. Lee stars as Jinnah in the film and earned some of the greatest critical reviews of his career. At the 2002 Brussels Fantasy Film Festival (via YouTube), Lee spoke about the film and deemed it not only his favorite, but also the most important work he’d done on the big screen.
While it’s a profound shame that the movie never received the theatrical release it deserved, hopefully fans of Christopher Lee will come away with a better appreciation forJinnahand seek out the film to witness the great late actor’s terrific performance.
Lee’s Best Role of His Career
When asked to name his favorite performance at the 2002 film festival, Lee candidly stated, “Well, that’s easy for me, it’s a movie you’ve never seen, unfortunately. It’s a film whichshouldbe seen.” With the audience’s full attention, Lee went on to explain:
“In 1997… I spent 10 weeks in Pakistan with Indian actors, with British actors, with Pakistani actors and I played a man called Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He was the founder of Pakistan, a man of great vision. Incorruptible, great integrity, a brilliant man, a friend of Gandhi, they were both lawyers.”
After introducing the character, Lee expressed, “I played it in this film and I know it’s the best thing I’ve ever done, by a long, long way. It’s a very good movie and everybody in it is very good, and it’s truthful, too. It’s historically accurate, and it was very well received in Pakistan. The cinemas were fully packed every night, every day for three months.”
Tragically, while the film performed well in Pakistanand at various film festivals, Jinnah was never officially released in theaters outside of Pakistan. “For me, it’s a great tragedy,” Lee added, “And for everybody who was connected with the film because it is a very good picture. It is actually my best performance. No question.”
Rarely Seen Outside of the Middle East
During a 2004 interviewwith the BBC, Lee echoed his opinion aboutJinnahbeing his best performance. According to Lee:
“The most important film I made, in terms of its subject and the great responsibility I had as an actor, was a film I did about the founder of Pakistan, calledJinnah. It had the best reviews I’ve ever had in my entire career as a film and as a performance. But ultimately it was never shown at the cinemas.”
Despitethe great performance by Lee, it would take seven more years for the public outside of Pakistan to see a release of the film. The reasonJinnahwas never shown in cinemas worldwide, according to Lee, had to do with distributional backlash regarding dangers in the Middle East at the time the movie was made.
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As Lee tells it at the Brussels festival:
“It’s [Jinnah]been seen in festivals, the London Film Festival, Los Angeles, New York, Houston, Cairo. Everywhere it’s been seen it’s had wonderful reviews as a picture and I must say the best reviews I’ve ever had in my life as an actor. But the distributors will not show it at the moment because they are afraid. And up to a point, I say ‘up to a point,’ one can understand that.”
Despite the restricted access to the film at the time,Jinnahwas eventually released on DVD in 2005.
Misperception of Muslims
In further reasoning why Jinnah never saw the light of day around the world, Lee insists that there is a gross misperception aboutJinnahregarding how Muslims are typically depicted on film by Westerners. “This is about a Muslim,” Lee states, adding, “A Muslim leader, a Muslim politician. He wasnota fundamentalist, he wasnota terrorist, he wasnota man who sent people to kill other people.”
Further underscoring his point regarding the misperception of Muslims in cinema, Lee added:
“This is the mistake the world makes, most people. What people don’t understand is that this is not the true Muslim, what is happening [in the Middle East]. They’re a minority and it’s not the true Islam. It is not… But because this is the story of a Muslim leader, people in the West who don’t really understand and don’t know about this history, they get worried.”
Interestingly enough, while Lee contends that the film would have been controversial if played in Western theaters,Jinnahhad its own local controversy in Pakistan.
The Movie Did Not Sit Well With Some of The Locals
AlthoughJinnahreceived mostly positive reviews in Pakistan, locals in the area became outraged after the film premiered in Hollywood.According to theBBC, “Pakistan was enraged by the choice of Mr. Lee to portray Muhammad Ali Jinnah because ofLee’s long association with Count Dracula.”
Per the report, the outrage began before the film was completed, with the Pakistani government withdrawing its funding halfway through the production schedule. Meanwhile, Lee began receiving death threats from the locals and required a bodyguard while making the film, to remain unharmed. As a result of the local controversies, some critics tried to get the movie banned.
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Lee’s Life was in Danger at One Point
According to the BBC, locals were also incensed that a European actor was depicting an Asian character onscreen, resulting in many attempting to have Lee arrested and deported from the country. Adding to the troubled production, Indian actor Shashi Kapoor (who narrates Jinnah) was so interested in making the movie that he offered to invest $1 million to realize the story. Despite his dedication, Kapoor was publicly attacked in the press by Indian officials and the Pakistani media for making the film (viaPro Quest).
Perhaps worse yet,Jinnah’s director Jamil Dehlavi accused his screenwriting partner Akbar S. Ahmed of embezzling funds from the movie (viaThe Guardian). Although Lee had little to say about the local controversies, the context paints a clearer picture ofJinnah’s production woes that partially led to its limited exposure. Even so, Lee maintained that Jinnah was “By far the best thing I’ve ever done.“Jinnahis currently available to stream on Vidly.tv
