Review: These Birds Walk - all roads lead home

These Birds Walk will show you a new face of hope.

These Birds Walk is a hauntingly beautiful documentary that will leave you on the verge of tears --- despite your resolve to keep emotions intact. Co-directed by Omar Mullick and Bassam Tariq, These Birds Walk sheds light on philanthropist Abdul Sattar Edhi’s role in the transitionary state experienced by abandoned children on the metropolitan streets of Karachi.

Instead of stating the broader, more obvious facts such as Edhi holding the record for the largest private ambulance system in the world, the documentary concentrates on his individual impact on the people he helps. His selfness, his kindness and the generosity of his spirit overwhelm the viewer. Somewhere along the film, I stopped pretending I had something in my eye and let the tears roll.



The 77-minute documentary film revolves around three cases — two young boys who have run away from home and another who got lost. There is Omar who constantly takes off from his house and Sher Ali, a victim of child abuse who seeks refuge under the open skies, which he finds safer. Finally there is Mahmood, the young prayer leader who pins all hope and faith into finding his way back home.

Omar’s resilience is overwhelming, giving a glimpse into what it is like to grow and survive on the streets of a megacity. His constant attempts to put up a tough front with statements like, “Hit me as much as you can, I won’t shed more than one tear” make you realise that once on the streets, there are no rules to the game.

Connecting these three young boys is Asad, a young ambulance driver working for The Edhi Foundation, who is torn between transporting corpses (for which he gets a commission) versus transporting runaway children.

The film touches you as you see Asad’s kindness and the comfort he offers the distressed children he comes across. For Asad, these children’s problems are a welcome distraction from his own woes. Taking his role seriously, Asad takes a liking to Sher Ali, offering him a permanent place at the Edhi Home and a job with a promise of keeping him safe from physical abuse.

Filled with childish hope, the boys are each other’s companions and confidantes. Possibly one of the most jarring scenes of the movie is when Omar and Sher Ali silently bury their faces in their hands because they want to go home.



Along with scenes that leave a mark on your mind, this film holds a special meaning for someone from Karachi. The landmarks (Native Jetty bridge, Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s mazaar and the beach) pinch you with a sense of belonging as well as disappointment because of the number of barricades, metal detectors and security precautions that clutter the city now. Despite the unwelcome changes and hardships of the megacity, the filmmakers capture the spirit of Karachi beautifully as well as the impact of the relentless work that Edhi does on a regular basis.

Though Pakistanis hope for a Nobel Prize for Edhi, after this film, you would realise that people like him probably don’t need one. 

These Birds Walk is currently playing across different cities in the United States.

Rating: 4.5 stars

Shehriyar Khan is a part-time urban planning student in Los Angeles.

Published in The Express Tribune, Sunday Magazine, January 26^th, 2014.