Verses of Love or Ayat-Ayat Cinta is an Indonesian movie directed by Hanung Bramantyo.

It is a
romantic religious film which is based on best-selling novel with the same title by Habiburrahman El
Shirazy.
Plot
(from http://www.ayatayatcintathemovie.com/)
Ayat Ayat Cinta is a beautifully portrayed Islamic love story a tale of a virtuous Muslim protagonist
who overcomes all obstacles of life maintaining pure ideals.
Fahri bin Abdillah is a poor, intelligent student who wins a scholarship to complete his graduate degree
at Egypts esteemed Al Azhar University. Very disciplined and dedicated by nature, Fahri embraces his
life in Cairo, completing his studies and translation of religious books with full enthusiasm, exactly
according to pre-determined targets.
Only one goal is left unattempted: the pursuit of marriage.
For Fahri is innocent and pure, and doesnt believe in the concept of relationships prior to marriage. He
is inarticulate and shy around women. All his life, only two women have been close to him his
mother and grandmother.
Life changes drastically in Egypt for he suddenly finds himself surrounded by four beautiful, distinctly
different women.
Maria Girgis, a shy, open-minded Coptic-Christian neighbor who is attracted to the teachings of the
Holy Al Quran, finds herself falling in love with Fahri (a fact she only reveals to her diary).
Nurul, a student at Al Azhar like Fahri, is the Muslim daughter of a renowned Indonesian cleric. Fahri
feels unworthy of her and thus ignores his feelings for her, leaving her confused and guessing.
Noura, an abused Egyptian neighbor, develops strong romantic feelings for Fahri, who in turn simply
sympathizes with her situation. His romantic rejection destroys her and eventually leads to a false
accusation of rape.
Aisha, a German Turkish student in Cairo haunts Fahri with her beautiful eyes. Following an incident
on the metro where Fahri defends her against narrow minded bigoted Muslims, both immediately
develop feelings for each other.

As the story unravels, the protagonist makes the audience face the daunting decisions he himself faces,
and forces us to marvel at his undying loyalty to the true ideals of Islam as he ultimately makes the
choice of a lifetime.

Inspiration Note

In some level, this movie represents such high perception of marriage and life. If most of us are lost in
love and lust, not with Fahri and Aisha. Theres a certain exclusivity that we rarely find. They both
could be this couple we look for, with their high devotion in their religion.
Its pretty interesting when I see women in the movie are obsessed with Fahri. Its ordinary if a guy
chased a girl, its pretty much in the nature. There are moments when hes just so perfect, its too good
to be true. Sure, hes cute with good manners, a combination we usually never find. Its his character to
be innocent, but I see it kind of annoying. Hes slow with reading signs and expressions (from a
woman) and slow in making decisions.
Aisha is this perfect woman, brave and good heart, played very well by Rianti R. Cartwright. Shes
more tough than Maria. Maria in the other hand is more childish and more balanced with Fahri. Shes
as good heart as Aisha, but not that mature.
Looking Marias relationship with Fahri, and other women who likes him, changed my view about
things in love. Yes, we often say were in love. But really, sometimes its not in love, its obsessed.
This is pretty much the only movie that can make me understood why polygamy can be done; it
consists with humans that make marriage only in the name of God, not others, pure and that is it. But,
cynically, I can only say this picture-perfect might be only in this movie.
Other things that made the movie different, its the exotic feel of the location. The story is actually
based in Cairo, Egypt, but instead of shooting in Cairo, the movie was shot in India and Semarang,
Indonesia. Well done.
Should definitely watch this movie if youre a bit curious about Islam. It can be watched in general.
Movie Facts :
Comparison to novel (wikipedia)
In the novel, Maria has a younger brother named Yousef, while in the film Maria is depicted as the only
child.
When Fahri was arrested and put in jail, he was imprisoned with respected scholars, namely Professor
Abdul Rauf, Ismail, Hamada, Haj Rashed and also Marwan. However, in the movie, Fahri was
imprisoned with a cruel culprit.
At the end of the novel, Alicia the American reporter returns to Egypt to visit Fahri as a new muslimah.
However, in the movie, Alicia did not convert herself as a muslimah.
Hanung Bramantyo, the director, made this movie based on a wish from his mother to make Islamic
movie, which hes successfully done.
In its opening weekend, Ayat-Ayat Cinta grossed RM 3.6 million in Indonesia, and grossed $39.882
million in 5 theaters in Singapore, ranking at #8 and averaged an estimated $7,976 per theater. In
Malaysia, the movie grossed $15.521 million in 22 theaters, ranking at #11 and averaged an estimated
$706 per theater.
Directors behind the scene : http://hanungbramantyo.multiply.com/photos/album/1/Hunting_AyatAyat_Cinta_di_Cairo